ENGLAND'S FIRST
GREAT WAR MINISTER
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
Some Supposed Shakespeare Forgeries.
More about Shakespeare "Forgeries."
Shakespeare as a Groom of the Chamber.
The History of Hampton Court Palace.
The Royal Gallery of Hampton Court
Illustrated.
Holbein's and Vandyck's Pictures at
Windsor Castle.
Kensington Palace, the Birthplace of Queen
Victoria.
*»
PORTRAIT OF WOLSEY
ABOUT THE AGE OF FORTY,
v ^
Reprodiiced from the Drawing — perhaps made at Lille or Tournay
in September •, 1513 — attributed to Jacques le Boucq of
Artois, formerly in the Library of the town of
Arras, now destroyed by the Germans.
The inscription : " Thomas Vulsey, Cardinal d^Yorck" is contemporary ;
the words that follow : " Anthour dii Schisme" were evidently
inserted at a much later time.
Frontispiece
ENGLAND'S FIRST
GREAT WAR MINISTER
How Wolsey made a New Army and
Navy and organized the English
Expedition to Artois and Flanders
in 1513
And how things which happened then
may inspire and guide us now
in 1916
BY
ERNEST LAW
WITH PORTRAITS AND FACSIMILES
LONDON
GEORGE BELL & SONS, LTD.
1916
Dfi
33f '.
V\1?L3
PORTRAIT OF WOLSEY
AT THE AGE OF FORTY-FIVE.
Reproduced from the Picture
Painted for Henry VIII. in 1520 of
"THE FIELD OF THE CLOTH OF GOLD."
Face p v
PREFACE
THE introductory remarks in the first chapter of
this book, together with its table of contents, should
sufficiently indicate its aim and scope without any
formal preface. Nevertheless, there remain one or
two points which seem to require brief notice here.
In the first place, it should be explained that for
every statement of fact in the following pages the
author has the warrant, either of original contem-
porary documents, or, when these were unattainable,
of the best historical evidence available. Many of
such authorities are referred to in the course of the
text : where they are not so, the statements are, as
a rule, based on the calendars of State Papers,
or on the original documents themselves, therein
referred to.
To all of these statements precise references
will be furnished in a subsequent volume, which
the author hopes to bring out later on, treating of all
vi England 's First Great War Minister
the incidents of the campaign in full. In this will
be also printed several documents never before
published ; besides maps, plans, and facsimiles of
contemporary drawings, and reproductions of old
prints — all illustrative of the events of the war and
of the military life of that period.
Such a complete and detailed record will, it is
hoped, afford a more vivid picture of the actual
campaign than has been attempted in the summary
in the present volume, the design of which is con-
fined to describing the organization of the expedition,
under Wolsey as War Minister.
At the same time, the author has endeavoured,
while pointing the obvious morals to be drawn by
us at the present hour from that wonderful work of
his, to do something towards helping to lift the
clouds of falsity which have so long hung over his
character and achievements, and which only in our
day have at last begun to be dispersed — owing
mainly to the writings of two English churchmen,
the late Rev. Dr. Brewer, and Mandel Creighton,
Bishop of London.
Yet even now the general estimate of one, who
should rank among the greatest of all English states-
Preface vii
men, is far too much founded on that travesty of
the real man — the Wolsey of the play " King
Henry the Eighth " ; the Wolsey of Master Griffith's
poor apology ; the Wolsey of the speeches to
Thomas Cromwell and of the famous " Farewell "
soliloquies — in none of which, as the critics are now
pretty well agreed, did Shakespeare have any hand
at all, if, indeed, he had any but the smallest in
any portion of the play.
Incidentally also the author has endeavoured to
recall to Englishmen the memory of one of the
earliest and greatest of England's many forgotten
heroes — that splendid seaman Sir Edward Howard.
How is it that while there are monuments and
memorials in this country to German musicians,
German philosophers, German professors, there is
not one to Cardinal Wolsey, not one to Admiral
Howard ?
Of the two facsimiles, which follow, of documents
in the handwritings of these two illustrious English-
men— Wolsey 's War Memorandum, and Howard's
last letter to Wolsey — nothing requires to be said
beyond what is printed beneath them and in the
text. They tell their own tale.
viii England's First Great War Minister
It is hoped that they may, perhaps, help the
reader to understand something of that feeling of
the actuality of historic events — something of that
feeling of intimacy with historical characters — which
is produced by handling and reading their own
letters, written with their own hands, and showing
all the hesitancies, erasures and corrections of their
own current pens — giving a sense of personal contact
with the past, which no reading of any modern
printed version of a manuscript, or of any modern
printed narrative, can ever arouse.
Of the three portraits of Wolsey inserted in this
volume the first — the frontispiece — though now
fairly well known to students, may still be new to
many readers. The other two, neither of which has
ever before been published, provide us with the most
authentic representations of the great Cardinal any-
where existing in England. For further information
on this topic, those interested in portraiture are
referred to the Appendix, where the origin and the
significance of all three portraits are discussed.
As to the many curious analogies and resem-
blances traceable between England at war in 1512
and 1513, and England at war from 1 9 1 4 to 1916,
Preface ix
many are noticed in the text — the equipment by
Wolsey of the " New Army," as it was called ; the
hurried provision by him of arms and ammunition ;
the sea-fighting ; the elaborate system of trenches
around the fortresses ; the intended use of poisonous
gases against besiegers ; the places passed through
by the English — St. Omer, Aire, Armentieres,
Bethune, La Bass6e, Bixshoote, Hulluch, Furnes,
Ypres ; and — prophetically, let us hope — Carvin,
Seclin, Lille and Tournay ; the brutalities of German
mercenaries ; and the Spaniards' denunciation of
their " beastliness."
Some of such analogies are merely curious.
Others there are, that may really be helpful at the
present time — reminding us how remarkably constant
and persistent, through four centuries, have been
certain English characteristics.
For, if, in the beginning of a contest, Englishmen
generally — and still more their rulers — have too
often been easy-going and careless ; too often unduly
confident about their task, and always inclined to
think too lightly of their foes ; equally have they,
throughout their history, when once the true English
spirit has been aroused, shown themselves deter-
x England's First Great War Minister
mined and resolute to achieve their end and purpose
to a degree never reached by any other nation in
history.
Similar circumstances have ever resulted in
similar issues ; like trials called forth the same
qualities ; and if we may still trace the same faults
and deficiences, equally may we hail the same in-
domitable will, the same unalterable, steadfast spirit.
If, for example, the terrible fiasco of Fontarabia
in 1512 — due to gross mismanagement by incom-
petent, wrangling, obstinate-minded ministers, and
slow, foozling old officials, surviving from Henry VI Fs
reign — is matched by the terrible fiasco of Meso-
potamia now ; so also is the transformation of our
English army, wrought by Wolsey then, matched
by the marvellous creation of our New English
armies, wrought by Kitchener now.
Looking back into English history we can fore-
cast, with unerring certainty, what will be the end
of the great struggle on which we are engaged
to-day.
E. L.
HAMPTON COURT :
August <\th, 1916.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE v
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS , xxi
CHAPTER I.
AN EXPEDITION TO EFFACE A FAILURE.
A Successful but Forgotten Campaign — Curious Analogies with
the Present — Wolsey the Organizer of Victory — A much
Maligned Statesman — His Vast Responsibilities and Achiev-
ments — The Fiasco of Fontarabia — No Fighting, No Tents,
No Beer — Terrible Disease and Sickness — The Army strikes
for More Pay — In Defiance of Orders returns to England —
Foreign Strictures on English Soldiers — Hesitating Counsels
—"Wait and See"— "War Office Muddling "—The English
scoffed at — Henry " explains " the Failure .... I
CHAPTER II.
WOLSEY AS WAR MINISTER.
A New Expedition against France — Wolsey in Supreme Control
— His Office near Whitehall — His Immense Preparations —
Curious Ancient Naval Documents — Wolsey's Fight against
Apathy, Slowness and Waste — Delinquencies of Pursers and
Purveyors — Absorbs all the Prerogatives of the Crown — Old
Councillors shelved — No Leisure for Talk — His Aloofness
from Pushing Self-seekers — His Imperiousness in Council —
Absorbed in his Master's and Country's Business — His
Ceaseless Labours — No Week-end Jaunts for Him — His
Health affected — His Stupendous Task . . . .15
xii England s First Great War Minister
CHAPTER III.
WOLSEY AS MINISTER OF FINANCE.
PAGE
Rigid Financial Control — Sharp Scrutiny of Contracts and Prices
— Patriotic Economy — Anger of the Profiteers — Wolsey insists
on Good Food for the Troops — Plenty of Good Beer — Public
and Private Waste — The King's Privy Expenses — His
Gambling Losses — His Secret Payments — His fast "Set"—
Henry "a Good old Sport "—Wolsey regulates the Royal
Expenditure — His Financial Reforms — "Do it Now" —
Henry's Revenues — Wolsey's Memo of " Things to be remem-
bered " — All Expenditures and Contingencies Anticipated —
No " Wait and See "—Wolsey's Foresight . . . 27
CHAPTER IV.
WOLSEY'S WAR BUDGET OF 1513.
Application to Parliament — Large Sums willingly granted — A
Venetian's Report — Particulars of the New Taxes — New
Fiscal Principles — " Unheard-of Sums of Money " — A Speech
in Parliament on the War and Finance — A "Ginger"
Optimist — Provisions of Wolsey's War Budget of 1513 —
Onerous Direct Taxation — Inquisitorial Valuations — Com-
parison with his War Budget of 1523 — All the Blame and
Odium on the Minister — The King's Cunning Pretence of
Ignorance — The Venetian Ambassador's Accurate Informa-
tion— Diplomatic Life in London during the War Preparations
— Hospitality at the Venetian Embassy . . . -39
CHAPTER V.
HOW WOLSEY GOT THE MEN.
Summons to the Military Tenants — " Push and Go " — Wolsey a
Hustler — His Impatience with Dawdlers and Dalliers — No
" Conscientious Objectors " then — Mustering and Enrolling —
Contents xiii
PAGE
"Commissions of Array" — "All Men between Sixty and
Sixteen to take Arms " — Royal Fear of the Feudal Lords —
Service Abroad "in case of Invasion" — Universal Service in
Tudor Times — Defence of the King's Dominions — King
Henry's Clarion Call — Wolsey the Organizing and Unifying
Head 55
CHAPTER VI.
WOLSEY AS MINISTER OF MUNITIONS.
Arms and Ammunition — Armour and Artillery from Abroad —
Big Guns — Foundries Established — Powerful Siege Artillery
—King Henry's " Twelve Apostles "—Wolsey Wakes England
up — Great Activity in the Land — Amazement of Foreigners —
"No Business Doing" — King Henry and His Ships — Acts as
Admiral, Mariner and Gunner — Feather-headed Tavern Talk
— Wolsey's Warnings — His Candour and Loyalty — How he
did not Act — " Knowing the Perils of the Situation " — Never
misled his Master — Did not reduce the Artillery — Nor cut
down the Number of Fighting Men — Did not pose as a
" Strategist " — A really " Responsible " Minister — Not as Now 65
CHAPTER VII.
VICTUALLING AND VARIOUS REQUIREMENTS.
Urgency of Victualling both for the Navy and Army — Naval and
Military Bases — Enormous Stores of Food at Calais —
Immense Numbers of Beasts Slaughtered and Salted — Rise
in Prices — A Wonderful Provisioned Army — Cavalry Horses
— Draught Horses — Flanders Mares — Tents — The King's
Gorgeous Pavilions — Forty Thousand Men under Canvas —
Periscopes for the Trenches ...... 77
xiv England "s First Great War Minister
CHAPTER VIII.
SANITATION AND SURGEONS AND " THE LAW
OF ARMS."
PAGE
Wolsey's Interest in Sanitation — His Precautions against Infection
— His Interest in the Medical Art — King Henry's Babblings
in Drugs — His Own Physicians — Surgeons for the Army —
Their Wages — Their Remedies— Boiling Oil for Wounds —
The " Barber-Surgeons "—Success of Wolsey's Methods and
Precautions — Army Surgeons Exempted from bearing Arms
—Chivalrous Warfare—" The Law of Arms "—The " Statutes
of War " printed— One Extant Copy — Its Great Curiosity —
Its Interesting History — Injunctions against Pillage and
Arson — Copies for all Officers — Wolsey arranges for the
King's Comfort — Good Wines for His Grace — Colour of the
Satin for his Doublet— Wolsey's Regard for Etiquette— The
right Stuff for his own Cassocks . . . . -87
CHAPTER IX.
THE FLEET AT SEA VICTUALLING TROUBLES.
Rigging out the Ships for Fighting — The King Inspects His Fleet
— Lord Admiral Howard puts to Sea — His Own Squadron —
The Full Fleet — Its Fighting Force— Howard's Cheery Letters
— " Never such a Fleet Seen "—The Sailing of the Great
Ships — Their Names, Tonnage, Armament — Officers and
Complement of Men — Soldiers Aboard — Names of Old
County Families — The Same To-Day on Land and Sea —
Soldiers' and Sailors' Graves — Wages of Officers and Men —
Shortage of Victuals — Difficulties of Transport — Food
Depending on Wind — Men insist on Beer and Beef — Few
Purveyors or Warehouses — Urgency of the Problem — Wolsey
grapples with It . . , « « . . . . 101
Contents xv
CHAPTER X.
SEA-FIGHT OFF BREST ADMIRAL HOWARDS
HEROIC DEATH.
PACK
Howard's Determination to get at the Enemy — His Last Messages
to All— His Indomitable Spirit — Wolsey's Relations with the
Admirals — Their Respect for Him— Admiral Howard's Plan
—Sighting the Enemy—" They fled to Brest "— " They shall
have Broken Heads" — The Enemy Won't Come Out — His
Resolve to " Attack them in their Hiding Places " — Howard
rushes In — Admiral's Good, Plain English — Howard boards
" Prior John's " Galley—" Come Aboard Again "—How Brave
Howard fell — His Glorious Example — His "Bull Rushing
Tactics" — The Same Spirit To-day — Momentous Con-
sequences . . . .- 115
CHAPTER XL
HOWARD'S TACTICS CRITICIZED BY " EXPERTS."
Discussion of the Action — Cavilling Civilians — No Interference
from Wolsey— The King's Impatience — Shall "Attack them
in their Hiding-Places" — Amateurs and Professionals —
Naval "Strategists" and " Tacticians "—An "Expert's"
Criticisms— "Not as I should have done it" — Extraordinary
Effects of Howard's Bravery and Death — The Enemy's
Generous Tribute — His Body Recovered, Salted and Em-
balmed— His Belongings Distributed — The Lion Heart of
Howard— His Admiral's Whistles and Chains— Effects of
the News Abroad— Who's the " Victory " ? — The Action dis-
paraged by King Ferdinand — Vexation of the King of Scots
— Speedy and Striking Results — England's Mastery of the
Seas — Wolsey marshals the King's Forces — Concentration
in the Southern Counties and Ports— Wolsey's " New Army" 127
b
xvi England's First Great War Minister
CHAPTER XII.
THE HOLY LEAGUE — SUBSIDIZED SOVEREIGNS.
PAGE
Henry's Allies — Maximilian's Shifts and Tricks — The Holy League
renewed — Henry's Sincerity — His Chivalrous Ideals — A
Lion-Hearted King— His Mixed Motives — Impresses Europe
and his own Subjects — Intends to Command in Person —
Discussion in Council and in Parliament — Wolsey's Plain,
Honest Dealing — New Terms in the Holy League — The
Duchess of Savoy negotiates for her Father — Wants his
Subsidy paid in Advance — Worrying the English Ambassador
for the Instalments — " The Money is on the Way " — Maxi-
milian's Delight — Would like a Small Loan too — King
Ferdinand wants Money also — His Treachery — His Advice
to " his son " Henry . . . ". '. ";'-'• .' . 141
CHAPTER XIII.
SPIES, CARD-SHARPERS AND GERMAN
MERCENARIES.
Margaret of Savoy's Goodwill towards England — The French
King's Anger — "Safe under English Arrows" — Warning
against Spies—" Shady " Neutrals— Crafty Card-Sharpers —
Prosecuted for Cheating — Henry engages German Mercen-
aries—Their Wages "on the Nail"— The Arch- Mercenary
Maximilian — His Daily Wage — Service under Henry VI I I—-
Wears the English King's Badge — His Poses and Theatri-
calities— His Astonishing Pretensions — German Mercenaries
— Ready to Fight on any Side — Good Soldiers — But Detestable
Companions-in-Arms — Their Horrible Atrocities — Spanish
Complaints of their Ruffianism and "Beastliness" — Their
Greediness — French Chivalry to the Enemy — German Bar-
barities— Cruelties to their Prisoners — Froissart denounces
them— " Maudit Soient ils ! " . •*/', . •; v .- :< c s . 155
Contents xvii
CHAPTER XIV.
COMMAND OF THE SEA TRANSPORTING THE
NEW ARMY.
PAGE
Henry VIII's Letter to the Pope— The Triple Entente— " No
Separate Peace "—England's Aim in the War — "Never a
Dishonourable Peace" — The Liberties of the Church — To
Free Europe from Domination — Rise of England's Naval
Power — Command of the Sea — Wolsey's Far-Reaching
Imagination — The King's Great Ships — " England's Navy"
— Transporting "Wolsey's New Army" to Calais — The
Vanguard commanded by the Lord Steward — Retinue of the
Master of the Ordnance — Whole Composition of the Van-
guard— The King's Summons to the Feudal Lords — The
Rear Ward commanded by the Lord Chamberlain — Great
Lords and Landowners as " Grand Captains " — A Great
Lord's Receipt for his Wages — Horsemen Strangers . .165
CHAPTER XV.
THE MIDDLE OR KING'S WARD THE ROYAL HOUSE-
HOLD IN "WHITE AND GREEN."
The Middle or King's Ward — Concentrated round Dover — Con-
veyed to Calais — Four Hundred Transports — Henry's " Great
Ships of War Scour every Coast " — Composition of the
King's Ward — Retinues of some Great Lords — The King's
Own Guard — Wolsey's own Regiment of 200 Fighting Men —
Combatant Churchmen — Don't dress up in " white and
green " — No Hypocritical Whimperings — No " Superiority
of Moral Outlook " — No Impertinencies from Canting Peda-
gogues— The Royal Household Uniformed and Armed —
Minstrels and Players in " White and Green "—Total of the
Ward 15,000 Men — Wages of Officers and Men — Liveries
and Uniforms — "Coat and Conduct Money" — A Great
Northern Army — "Malice of the Deceitful Scots" — Their
"Olde Prankes" 175
b 2
xviii England's First Great War Minister
CHAPTER XVI.
FOREIGN IMPRESSIONS OF THE NEW ARMY
AND ITS KING.
TAGS
Letters of Venetian Merchants in London — A Total of Sixty
Thousand Combatants — "Men who resemble Giants" —
" Choicer Troops not seen for Years " — " Cannon fit to Conquer
Hell!" — High Quality and Lofty Character of the New
Army — Of the Temper and Spirit of the " New Model " and
" Kitchener's Men " — " To Battle as to a Sport or Game " —
Pasqualigo's Intimate Knowledge of England and the English
—His Enthusiastic Comments — Tavern Gossip— " Our King
Harry is going to Paris" — "Will be crowned King of
France "—General Admiration for Henry— His Courage —
" Handsomest Potentate ever seen " — Not what " Henry the
Eighth" calls up to us — An Ideal "Prince Charming" —
Hall's Glowing Panegyric— The Richness and Splendour of
the King and his Nobles— The Soldiers all Picked Men . 185
CHAPTER XVII.
HENRY VIIl's ARRIVAL AT CALAIS.
King Henry embarks at Dover — A "Goodly Passage" — An
Official "Eye-Witness" War Correspondent— His Valuable
Diary in the British Museum — Salutes from Ships and Forti-
fications— The King enters Calais Haven — Lands, from a
Boat, on the Quay — Received by the Clergy in Procession —
Henry's Striking Appearance — In Glittering Armour and
Cloth of Gold — The King's Henchmen— He passes beneath
the " Lantern Gate" — A Splendid Cavalcade — Wending their
Way along the Streets — Welcome from the Townsmen —
Through the Market Place — Merchants of the Staple honour
their King — Henry enters St. Nicholas's Church — His
Offerings and Thanksgivings — The Glamour of a " Holy War " 199
Contents xix
CHAPTER XVIII.
OUTLINES OF THE CAMPAIGN.
PAGE
Wolsey's Functions at the Front — Corresponds with Queen
Katherine — "An Obstinate Man who rules Everything" —
Henry and his Soldiers on the March — Germans indulge in
a little "Kultur"— Henry hangs Three of Them— Arrival
before Therouanne — Mutineering Mercenaries — The King of
England's " Apostles " begin to preach — The Battle of Spurs —
The Chevalier Bayard made Prisoner — Chivalrous Courtesies
between French and English — Old France and the New
France — Fall of Therouanne — Its Marvellous System of
Trenches — Intended Use of Poisonous Gas — Fortifications
blown up and levelled — More Hun " Frightfulness " — King
Henry's March to Lille — His Triumphal Entry — Siege of
Tournay — Its Surrender — Wolsey builds Miles of Huts for
the Army — Too Generous Tommy Atkins — End of the Cam-
paign— Henry and his Army return to England . . . 209
CHAPTER XIX.
RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN.
Reasons for the Termination of the Campaign — One of Henry's
Main Objects Achieved— His Fame as a Chivalrous Knight
— Opinion at Head-Quarters — Impressions in England —
Effects on the Continent — Depression in France — Enthusi-
astic Italians in London — Rejoicings in Italy — Bonfires in
Milan and Rome — The Pope's Gratification — Henry's Letter
to Leo X — King Ferdinand's Annoyance — " Put a Bridle
on this Colt " — Maximilian's Delight — Turns out a Regular
Fraud — Urges Henry to march on Paris — Henry rejects the
Proposal — But fears a Premature Peace — Invokes his " Con-
science"— Wolsey detects Maximilian's Treachery — The
French fortify the line of the Somme — The Strategic Import-
ance of PeVonne — Danger of an Advance into France — No
Renewal of the Campaign — Wolsey negotiates a Treaty of a
Marriage between Louis XII and Mary Tudor — Rewarded
with Bishoprics — Made Lord Chancellor and a Cardinal . 225
xx England's First Great War Minister
CHAPTER XX.
WOLSEY'S NATIONAL POLICY.
PAGE
Wolsey's Steady Political Aims — Peace in Europe and an Alliance
with France — England to be the disinterested Arbiter of
Christian Nations— Henry contented with his own Island —
The Principles of England's Foreign Policy — The Fatuous
Doctrine of Aloofness from Europe — A Mongrel Crew lurgs
England to the Brink of Ruin — Its Terrible Results— Wolsey's
Sane and Patriotic Policy — The " Wolsey Policy " results in
England's Expansion Overseas — His New Navy the Decisive
Factor in Repelling the Spaniard — National Policy Wolsey's
True Domain— Not the " Foreign Policy " of Subtle Doctrin-
aires or Mumbling Party Hacks — But of Life and Action —
England and the King One and the Same to Wolsey — His
Noble National Aims — Raises England to the Highest Estate
among Nations — His Claims for Admiration and Gratitude
on all Britons — The First Steps towards an Obscure Goal in
1513 — The "Wolsey Spirit" — The Spiritual prevailing over
the Material — How we are thereby sustained to-day . . 237
APPENDIX — NOTE ON THE THREE PORTRAITS OF WOLSEY
IN THIS VOLUME 1 "' . ''...,, .' . • , v /«•/ • 247
INDEX :;.-•-.:; • ' \'^ . ":; %$ . ;•;••' .'•< .253
XXI
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PORTRAITS OF WOLSEY.
(For a Note on these three portraits of Wolsey, see Appendix,
post page 247.)
I PORTRAIT OF WOLSEY ABOUT THE AGE OF FORTY.
From the Drawing attributed to Jean le Boucq,
formerly in the Library of the Town of Arras
Frontispiece
II PORTRAIT OF WOLSEY ABOUT THE AGE OF FORTY-
FIVE. From the Picture of " The Field of the
Cloth of Gold ".» ,. . < . . To face page v
III PORTRAIT OF WOLSEY ABOUT THE AGE OF FIFTY.
From the Painting in Trinity College, Oxford
To face page i
FACSIMILES.
PAGE
I FACSIMILE OF THE HEADING OF A WOLSEY WAR
MEMORANDUM . . ? .'.»• . . . xxii
II FACSIMILE OF THE END OF ADMIRAL SIR EDWARD
HOWARD'S LAST LETTER TO WOLSEY xxiv
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XXVI
ERRATA.
On page 15, line 2, read " under failure and the taunts of foreigners."
On page 57, line 2, from the bottom, read "Englishman" instead of
** Englishman."
On page 96, line 8, read " have cited " instead of" have not cited."
PORTRAIT OF WOLSEY
ABOUT THE AGE OF FIFTY.
From the Painting in Trinity College, Oxford.
Face p. 1
ENGLAND'S FIRST
GREAT WAR MINISTER
CHAPTER I.
AN EXPEDITION TO EFFACE A FAILURE.
A Successful but Forgotten Campaign — Curious Analogies with the
Present — Wolsey the Organizer of Victory — A much Maligned States-
man—His Vast Responsibilities and Achievements — The Fiasco of
Fontarabia — No Fighting, No Tents, No Beer —Terrible Disease and
Sickness — The Army strikes for More Pay — In Defiance of Orders
returns to England — Foreign Strictures on English Soldiers — Hesita-
ting Counsels— " Wait and See"—" War Office Muddling "—The
English scoffed at — Henry " explains " the Failure.
is strange how little attention has been be-
stowed by historians and military writers on
the great English expedition to Picardy and Flanders
in 1513, when Henry VIII, then only just twenty-
two years of age, landed at Calais, and at the head
of a force of fully 40,000 men, straightway advanced
twenty-five miles into France ; invested the then
important fortress of Therouanne — some eight or
ten miles south of St. Omer — totally defeated, at
the neighbouring village of Bomy — in the " Battle of
the Spurs " — a greatly superior force of French troops
2 England's First Great War Minister
coming to its relief, and compelled the surrender of
the town ; then passed through Aire and Bethune
on the way to Lille, which he entered in triumph ;
next marched eastward and laid siege to and
captured the great mediaeval fortress of Tournay,
and finally drove the French entirely out of Flanders.
The neglect of such interesting and important
military achievements is the more remarkable con-
sidering that in point of numbers King Henry's army
was the largest that ever crossed the Channel in
one body until the South African War; while the
numbers mustered under his standard before the
walls of Therouanne and Tournay — augumented
to upwards of 50,000 men by the incorporation of
several regiments of Flemings and some 10,000
German mercenaries — surpassed by far the greatest
English, not to say British, armies that ever operated
on the continent of Europe until the month of
August, 1914.
The explanation of this neglect seems to be that
the operations in question, though remarkably suc-
cessful in every way, led to no definite military
results nor to any permanent political changes —
campaigns and battles resounding in history rather
from their ultimate influence on events, than from
their instrinsic strategic or human interest.
Nevertheless there are many circumstances
An Expedition to Efface a Failure 3
which render this long-forgotten campaign deserving
of study and investigation at the present time. One
is that this expedition of Henry VIII's was the
first occasion on which a King of England fought
on the continent — with allies — for a distinctly Inter-
national and European purpose, instead of, as in the
earlier campaigns of Cre^y, Poictiers, Agincourt, etc.,
for more dynastic aims and territorial acquisitions.
His allies, we may remark by the way, were
the Emperor Maximilian and Ferdinand King of
Arragon — a triple entente formed ostensibly to vindi-
cate the independence and uphold the rights of
the Holy See ; but in effect banded together to
maintain the balance of power in Europe against
the overweening ambition of the King of France ;
though Henry had, as we shall see, objects to serve
more personal than these.
Another thing that invests this early Tudor
expedition with a present interest is the great many
curious points of analogy between the warfare
waged by Englishmen in Flanders in 1513, and the
warfare waged by their descendants — now happily
in alliance with their former ever-chivalrous foes
— in 1916 over an identical area of country; while
still more curious are the points of analogy between
the preparations in England for the campaign then,
and now.
B 2
England's First Great War Minister
Yet another thing worthy of notice to-day is
that Henry's 40,000 men composed the most
thoroughly organized, the best equipped and armed,
and the most fully munitioned and provisioned of
any army that ever advanced to victory beneath
the standard of St. George, until the landing of the
British Army under the command of Sir John
French — on almost identically the same ground
—a fact due solely to the incomparable genius,
the* amazing energy and thoroughness, and the
wonderful organizing capacity of one man, who
should take rank among the greatest war ministers
-England ever produced — Thomas Wolsey.
Remarkable is it, indeed, that a priest of only
forty- two years of age, with no training except an
academic and ecclesiastic one, and at the time
holding nominally ^no higher office under his
sovereign than that of " the King's Almoner " —
intimate and confidential though it was — should
have been able, by the mere force of his genius,
to set aside the ordinary Ministers of State, and,
concentrating all the strings of administration in
his own hands, to assume the full control and
direction of the naval as well as military pre-
parations for keeping the Channel clear from the
enemy's ships of war ; for mustering from every part
of England and Wales the flower of the nation's
An Expedition to Efface a Failure 5
manhood ; in gathering them at the ports of
embarkation ; and in transporting them, with the
inadequate means then available, across the Channel
infested with hostile craft, without a hitch or the
loss of a single man, to the military base at Calais.
Yet such was Wolsey's achievement, though
the statement may come as a surprise to many,
who have never thought of Henry VIITs mighty
minister as anything else than a subtle Romanish
priest, of over-weening ambition and intolerable
pride, while at the same time the too-pliant tool
of his imperious master : self-seeking, grasping and
avaricious ; one who, though worthy of some com-
mendation as the founder and patron of seats of
learning and the greatest builder of his age, is chiefly
to be remembered, because his career may be held
up as an awful but welcome warning of the just and
inevitable ruin, that should always overtake worldly
and ambitious men.
Such, indeed, has been the traditional Wolsey
of ordinary English history, and such he has largely
remained in the standard books of to-day — especially
in those popular " primers" which distort historic
truth for the supposed advantage of making a good
moral impression, and in order to support precon-
ceived ideas on religion, philosophy, politics and
government, mislead the youth of England about
6 England's First Great War Minister
the story of their own country. This still continues
to be the case, notwithstanding the researches, now
fifty years old, of the late Dr. Brewer, who demon-
strated from the indisputable evidence of original
documents among the national archives — which until
his time had lain buried, unknown and inaccessible —
how false and prejudiced has been the common
estimate of this truly great Englishman ; and how
enormous should be his claim on our admiration and
gratitude as the first — as he was one of the foremost
— of England's foreign ministers, and the real founder
of her Imperial greatness.
This is still the case, too, notwithstanding that
this estimate of Brewer's has been in more recent
years adopted and enforced by Prof. A. F. Pollard,
the late Bishop Creighton, and other scholars, who
have fully appreciated how all-comprehending must
have been Wolsey's mind to enable him successfully
to combine in his own person the duties of Lord
Chancellor and Archbishop of York with those of
universal minister to King Henry — concentrating
under his own personal direction all the functions
and responsibilities which are, in modern times,
distributed between the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, and
transacting, to the wonder and amazement of the
Venetian Ambassador "the same business as*occupies
An Expedition to Efface a Failure 7
all the magistracies, offices and councils of Venice,
both civil and criminal, and all state affairs let their
nature be what it may."
That in the earlier part of his career, he should
have also exercised, with no less conspicuous success,
those now allotted to the First Lord of the Admiralty
and the Secretary of State for War is, therefore,
not so very surprising, though the fact has had
scarcely sufficient stress laid on it by modern
historians. Yet the evidence of the documents
as calendared and published by Brewer, and still
more when read in the originals, is most convincing
on the point, proving Wolsey to have been one of
the greatest war-controlling ministers England has
ever had — with perhaps the sole exception of the
elder Pitt.
It was, indeed, his firm grasp of the whole
international political situation, his wonderful organi-
zation of the King's military forces and his masterly
conduct of the war itself, that first won for him that
complete trust from the King, and that absolute
influence and power which he held undisputed until
his fall.
That this opportunity should have come to
Wolsey was partly due to Henry's having had — as
we have already indicated — strong personal motives
of his own in seeking a triumphant success for his
8 England's Fifst Great War Minister
; campaign of 1 5 1 3<.j; For he wanted to assert his
own importance as a factor in European politics, and
to show his mettle in warfare^
Still more did he wish to efface the very bad
impression, which had been produced throughout
Europe, by the utter failure of an earlier military
venture of his against France.
This was in the summer of 1512, when, at the
instigation of his father-in-law, Ferdinand of Arragon,
he had landed what in modern pompous parlance
would be designated an " Expeditionary Force," but
which we may be allowed, perhaps — fortified by the
example of Lord Kitchener and Lord French, and
the protests of many other soldiers — to speak of in
plain English as an "Army," at St. Sebastian, on
the coast of Spain, in the Bay of Biscay, with
the object of attacking from there the province of
Guienne and of bringing it once more under the
English Crown.
The enterprise, however, had ended in a fiasco,
owing chiefly to Ferdinand's not supporting it or
co-operating with it, but merely using it as a cover
for his own purpose of overrunning and annexing the
Kingdom of Navarre. "It grieveth your subjects
very sore," writes King Henry's Ambassador, " that
they do lie as soldiers here and do nothing, but
lose the time and spend your treasure." " Martial
An Expedition to Efface a Failure 9
exercises," writes another, "are not kept up; and
the army hath not seen the feats of war."
The English Army, in fact, was allowed to
advance no further than twelve miles — to Fontarabia.
There, reduced to inaction and demoralized thereby —
composed as it mainly was of raw troops hastily
levied, fixed in a foreign country without tents or
any proper shelter ; in a season of incessant rains
and a heat of almost tropical fierceness; "their
clothing wasted and worn, and their money spent " ;
with bad and strange food — they had got completely
out of hand.
What had chiefly upset the men was the want
of the beer they were accustomed to — the allowance
being in those days a gallon a day for each man —
and they had declined to accept as a substitute
either the cider or the wine of the country. " The
hot wines," they said, "do burn them and the cider
doth cast them in disease and sickness " — "making
their blood," according to the chronicler, "to boil
in their bellies that 3000 of them fell ill of the flux
(dysentery), and thereof 1800 died." The upshot
was that there was a general strike for more pay—
8^. instead of 6d. a day — equal to as many shillings
in modern currency.
Not getting what they demanded, officers as well
as men forced the Council of War and the Com-
io England's First Great War Minister
mander-in-Chief, the Marquis of Dorset — who were
probably not at all reluctant to be forced — to bring
the whole force home, in direct violation of the King's
pledged word to Ferdinand, and in defiance of his
imperative commands. Not that they objected to
fighting, but to the hardships of war without warfare.
Henry, when he heard of it, was furious, and wrote
to his father-in-law to cut the throat of any man who
refused obedience.
But the hold of the Crown over the military
forces of the nation was at that early period of his
reign much less effective than it became a year
or two after, when Wolsey's firm controlling hand
began to be felt. So we are less astonished than
we should otherwise be to learn that by the time
the letter reached Ferdinand the force was already
on the high seas on its way home. Henry had at
first intended to bring Dorset and his associates to
trial ; but perhaps on the advice of Wolsey, who
owed to the Marquis his introduction to the King,
he thought better of it ; and the sponge was passed
over the whole affair.
Nevertheless, the return of the English army
from Spain made the very worst impression abroad.
In every direction the cry was taken up that the
English were incurably intractable ; their King
impotent to control them ; their aristocracy given
An Expedition to Efface a Failure 1 1
over to pageantry, tournaments and hunting ; the
commonalty thriftless and idle ; and their soldiers
untrained and insubordinate.
Especially censorious was Henry's father-in-law,
who complained with bitterness that "the English
being unaccustomed to war, did not know how to
behave in a campaign ; " and though he acknow-
ledged they were "strong and stout-hearted and
stood firm in battle, and never thought of taking
flight," yet that " they shirked the labours and hard-
ships inevitably entailed on soldiers in war ; " and
that " they were self-indulgent and idle, inconstant
and fickle, rash and quarrelsome, and incapable of
acting in concert with allies. '
Another fault he found with the English was their
ineradicable tendency to procrastination — always
shirking coming to a decision, and always hesitating
to carry it out when at last arrived at. This he
again and again refers to in his correspondence with
his Ambassadors, and afterwards, at the last, when
his treacherous conduct was discovered, he gave it
as his justification for secretly making a separate
truce with the King of France. There must have
been something in what he said about England's
hesitating counsels at the time of the Expedition to
Spain, for the same complaint was made by the
Ambassadors themselves : " The King's Council
12 England's First Great War Minister
would talk for hours," they said, " and decide nothing"
-" Wait and See," in fact.
Afterwards, when Wolsey was at the helm, and
a great new English fleet was sailing the Bay of
Biscay, and an immense and powerful English army
was mustered ready to take the field, Ferdinand
becoming envious and jealous, changed his tone,
and his grievance was rather that England was too
much in a hurry ; that things ought to be allowed
to lag a bit to see what the other side was going to
do ; and that time should be given for the develop-
ment of events, which might result in a European
peace — asking, in fact, for the very thing he had
formerly complained of — " Wait and See."
The worst of it was that a certain amount of
King Ferdinand's criticism was only too true ; and
as Dr. Knight, the English Ambassador in Spain,
wrote to Wolsey from St. Sebastian, " their enemies,"
on the other hand, "were men of long continuance
in war; full of policy (that is long thought out
schemes and plans) and privy to all our deeds, and
we clean the contrary ! "
As an instance of the muddle and incompetency
of the "War Office" of the time, before Wolsey
took control, Knight mentioned that of 8,000 bow-
men not 200 were properly armed ! But, as he
shrewdly added: "it is no use blaming anybody,
An Expedition to Efface a Failure 13
as it would end in mutual recrimination, which is
not expedient at this time " — nor, we may be sure,
at any other time either. For in this stock phrase
we seem to hear the well-known, unmistakable voice
of the regular Government hack, clamouring for a
screen to be erected, behind which his delinquent
political patrons may stow away, to be hidden for
ever, all their follies and failures and misdeeds.
But though the criticisms levelled against the
English people and the English Army, by allies
and enemies alike, were largely well-founded, they
were not the less keenly resented by the young
King Henry on that account as a serious reflection
on his honour and credit. They touched him, high
spirited and chivalrous as well as ambitious as
he was, to the quick. Especially did he wince
under the taunts of Margaret Duchess of Savoy,
daughter of the Emperor Maximilian and Governess
of the Netherlands, who, among other sarcasms,
maliciously declared to the King's special envoy
at Brussels, Sir Thomas Boleyn, father of Anne
Boleyn, that " Englishmen had so long abstained
from war " (whereby she meant real continental war
as distinguished from paltry Civil War) "that they
lacked experience from misuse, and if report were
true, they were sick of it already ! "
To this early variant of " the contemptible little
14 England's First Great War Minister
army," Boleyn retorted that the English view was
" they were then only in the beginning of the war ;
but within three years coming " (Wolsey, perhaps,
suggested this cautious limit) "she would learn
from their deeds what stuff English soldiers were
made of, and she would find them neither to be
weary, nor to lack experience."
When the incident was reported to Henry he
was excessively nettled, and at once caused a
circular to be dispatched to all his diplomatic agents
abroad explaining that " the withdrawal of the army
from Spain had been mutually agreed upon between
the King of England and the King of Arragon on
account of the rainy weather." This, though perhaps
very " diplomatic," was hardly true, and in all the
Courts of Europe the excuses of the youthful
sovereign, everywhere known to be false, were
received with derision.
CHAPTER II.
WOLSEY AS WAR MINISTER.
A New Expedition against France — Wolsey in Supreme Control
— His Office near Whitehall — His Immense Preparations — Curious
Ancient Naval Documents— Wolsey 's Fight against Apathy, Slowness
and Waste — Delinquencies of Pursers and Purveyors — Absorbs all
the Prerogatives of the Crown — Old Councillors shelved — No Leisure
for Talk — His Aloofness from Pushing Self-seekers — His Imperious-
ness in Council — Absorbed in his Master's and Country's Business —
His Ceaseless Labours — No Week-end Jaunts for Him — His Health
Affected — His Stupendous Task.
VIII was not the man to sit down
under the failure and taunts of foreigners.
So to make good the words of his ambassador, and
to wipe out as soon as possible the stigma of the
Fontarabian fiasco and restore his damaged prestige,
he at once decided on launching a new great expe-
dition against France — this time across the Channel
into Picardy, Artois, and French Flanders — and in
a fortunate hour he turned to his Almoner to help
him in his great enterprise. Speedily and splen-
didly did Wolsey justify the immense confidence
and trust thus reposed in him. Forthwith he bent
all his energies to the task allotted to him, and
1 6 England's First Great War Minister
straightway in every direction and in every sphere
the control of the master-hand is at once apparent.
" The management of the war," says Brewer, " in
all its multifarious details has fallen into his hands.
It is he who determines the sums of money needful
for the expedition, the line of march, the number
and the arrangement of the troops, even the fashion
of their armour and the barding of their horses. It
is he who superintends the infinite details con-
sequent on the shipment of a large army."
His " lodgings " in the King's Palace of West-
minster, close to the historic Whitehall, which has
succeeded it as the official centre of the kingdom,
became, in fact, an Admiralty, a War Office, a
Foreign Office, and a Treasury all in one, where
sat what we should call a " War Committee" — a
committee oL one man, responsible_on^Lto^one maif
— his^Royal Master. Here, as Brewer puts it,
" Ambassadors, Admirals, Generals, paymasters,
pursers, secretaries, men of all grades, and in every
sort of employment, crowd about him for advice
and information. By the unconscious homage paid
to genius in times of difficulty, he stands confessed
as the master and guiding spirit of the age."
Thus it was that the preparations for the conflict,
vast and elaborate as they were for that age, when we
consider means of travel, transport and communica-
Wolsey as War Minister 17
tion, moved with unexampled precision, smoothness
and rapidity. For swiftly, like a mysterious influ-
ence, a new spirit was overspreading England ; and
in the torn, worm-eaten, faded parchment rolls and
State papers of the time — which long lay moulder-
ing in the Tower, but are now carefully preserved
in the Record Office, reverently deciphered, perused,
arranged and tabulated — we seem to hear the echo,
as it were, of the fashioning of arms and the
mustering of men in every corner of the land ; the
arming, and the manning, and the loading of ships
in every port on the coast.
Relating to the naval preparations one may read
in the Record Office document after document,
which clearly must have been drawn up under
Wolsey's direction, and some of which are all scored
over with his annotations and alterations. One of
them is particularly curious in this respect. It is
entitled : — " The Boke of the Kynges Armye on
the Sea" — and is inscribed: — "The Names of the
Ships, Captains and Masters, with the number as
well of the Soldiers as Mariners and Tons, which
be appointed to be in the King's Army by the Sea
this year." Part of this very interesting manuscript
is entirely in Wolsey's handwriting and the rest
corrected by him ; while all through it he has altered
the names of the Captains — cutting out old " dug-
c
1 8 England's First Great War Minister
outs " of the Wars of the Roses probably — and put
in others; while he has apportioned all the gunners.
But absolute as must have been Wolsey's control,
with the support and authority of the King, over
all naval matters as well as military ones ; yet even
so, many, it is evident, must have been his anxious
hours, when so often it was the old, old story — and
it is to be feared, the ever-new one also — of
foresight encountering unconquerable denseness and
slowness ; of energy meeting somnolent, complaisant
apathy. And then, all of a sudden, this mood giving
way to a sort of surprised and remorseful awakening,
with a feverish making up for lost time, well enough
in itself, perhaps, and indeed often wonderful
enough ; but bearing the inevitable consequence of
hastily devised expedients, and appalling and
wanton waste — waste of valuable material and good
food especially — that perennial and apparently
ineradicable vice of our countrymen, particularly
among the common people.
Over and over again we come across in the
correspondence of the time — Wolsey's and others' —
references to such things : notably in regard to
provisions for the fleet, and strictures on the
delinquencies of pursers and purveyors. Now some-
one is complaining of a "lack on the part of the
pursers, who have allowed a great part of the foists
Wolsey as War Minister 19
(casks for beer) to be burnt ; " now another — Fox,
Bishop of Winchester — declaring that " the pursers
deserve hanging in this matter."
Thus it was that Wolsey, with the Admiral,
Vice- Admirals and captains all clamouring for victuals
for their ships, was unable to supply them. To the
Admiral he had to write that he " could not give him
the desired supply of victuals for six weeks if foists
be not more plentifully brought for the Navy to
(South) Hampton, instead of being wastefully burnt
and broken. Some ships, ten weeks ago, received
756 pipes, and have redelivered scarce 80 foists of
them ! "
All this sort of thing not only vexed the economic
soul of the King's Almoner, but also roused his
deepest ire as jeopardizing the success of the whole
expedition. "This appears," he goes on to say
angrily, " to have been done by some lewd persons
that would not have the King's Navy continue any
longer on the sea! Orders should at once be
given that the offenders be punished. Otherwise
it will lead to the failure of the enterprise, and the
Admiral will be blamed."
This somewhat sharp reminder to the Admiral
in command, Sir Edward Howard — the Earl of
Surrey's second son, of whom we shall have a good
deal to say shortly — seems to have had good effect.
c 2
2O England's First Great War Minister
For not only did Wolsey do things thoroughly him-
self, but he had a way of inspiring confidence and
arousing something like awe in others, which led
to their doing things themselves thoroughly also.
And as yet no murmurs were heard against
the pride of place and arrogance of power of this
obscure ecclesiastic — this upstart of ungentle birth,
whom the King had sworn of his Privy Council
and admitted to his most intimate life ; and who,
though untrained in arms and ignorant of all martial
exercises and exploits, was unobtrusively, almost
imperceptibly, but at the same time firmly and
securely, gathering to himself and wielding ''the
State's whole thunder," and all the mighty pre-
rogatives of the Crown, for the waging of a great
Continental war. The old councillors of the Sove-
reign— the sagacious heads who had aided the
young King's father to lay deep the foundations
of the Tudor throne, and who had guided him
when he himself mounted it ; but who had to bear
the heavy responsibility of the failure of the expedi-
tion to Spain — were at first ignored, next quietly
set aside, then superseded. In some cases — such
as those of old Archbishop Warham and Sir
Thomas Lovell — they wisely bowed before superior
genius, and acquiesced in their own supercession.
In other cases they nurtured, though they did not
Wolsey as War Minister 21
always dare to give utterance to, fierce projects of
revenge. Among these last were Thomas Howard,
Earl of Surrey, afterwards second Duke of Norfolk
of the House of Howard, and the ill-fated Bucking-
ham— so soon to suffer that penalty of the block,
which, with a too outspoken complacency, he had
looked forward to inflicting on the favourite minister,
in the event — rashly imagined by him — of the
death of the King. Others, on the other hand,
like the old Marquis of Dorset, Fox, Bishop of
Winchester, and Ruthal, Bishop of Durham, recog-
nizing that the star of the King's right-hand man
was in the ascendant, willingly offered him their aid
in his herculean task, agreeing, in fact, frankly to
"work under him."
And, work, indeed, was there for all — and to
spare. Wolsey himself was indefatigable. All the
affairs of the Departments of State which he was
controlling for the war, were disposed of with
astonishing despatch. No time and no energy was
wasted. Above all, he hated talk; and importu-
nate chatterers and dalliers received short shrift
from him. Hedged in by a series of secretaries and
understrappers — like any modern war minister —
one had to traverse three or four rooms, we are
told by a foreign observer, before the inner closet
could be reached where sat the great man himself.
22 England's First Great War Minister
Naturally this sort of thing did not conduce to
popularity ; and no wonder that every foiled,
pestering busybody, or self-seeking schemer, went
away reviling him. Very important personages —
in their own estimation — often fared little better.
" No one obtains audience from him," wrote the
Venetian Ambassador a few years after the time we
are treating of, " unless at the third or fourth
attempt ; and he adopts this plan even with the
great lords and nobles of England." This keeping
at bay all but those who came on really important
business of State was much satirized afterwards, and
formed the subject of many a biting couplet of
Skelton's : —
"... My Lordes Grace
Has now no time or place
To speak to you as yet :
So may they may sit or flit,
Sit or walk or ride
And his layser abide,
Perchance half a yere,
And be never the nere."
But " to those men that sought him " with some
valuable contribution towards the work in hand—
at this time the war with France — it is evident that
he was always "sweet as summer," and accessible
enough. We gather this from many little indica-
tions in the documents of the time, especially his
Wolsey as War Minister 23
own grave, earnest correspondence — the reflex of
his clear and penetrating mind.
Occasionally there were meetings of the Council
— a cabinet of only some half-dozen members. For,
benighted as people are supposed to be have been
in those days, they were not quite so benighted as
to entrust for two years the supreme direction
of their affairs in a great war to a heterogeneous
body of some twenty-three wrangling members.
And even so the Council, when it met, had little to
do but to register the advice already tendered by
Wolsey and accepted by the King.
" Clapping his rod on the board
No man dare speak a word,
For he hath all the saying
Without any renaying
He rolleth in his records,
And saith, ' How say ye, my Lords,' "
is the description Skelton, his bitterest enemy, gives
of his demeanour in the Council chamber.
The fact is that Wolsey had in his life's work but
one watchword — " The King's business " — which
was his business, and his country's business, so that
when that was in issue he considered others but
little, and spared himself not at all. By this entire
single-mindedness of aim those opposed to him
were placed at a disadvantage, which an Ambassa-
24 England's First Great War Minister
dor of the King of France laid his finger on, when
he complained of him as : " one who is entirely
devoted to his master's interests — a man as difficult
to manage as may be." Needless to say it also
served him in good stead when breathing life and
vigour into the great machine of war, which he may
almost be said to have created, and which he was
bent on raising to its highest degree of efficiency—
so that when the time came it moved, with precision
and celerity, irresistibly towards its appointed goal.
In the meanwhile- he sought no respite from his
ever-growing task ; he gave no thought to repose.
In later years, when his health began to fail, he
would steal away from London on his mule or in
his barge for a few days' rest and change in his
house by the Thames. But that was in peace-time,
and at this earlier period he had no such quiet
resort to go to ; moreover, we may be pretty sure
that in war-time, in the din of strenuous preparation
for a great campaign, there would have been few,
if any, week-end jaunts for Wolsey.
Indeed his friends were much concerned at the
way he was over-working himself. Thus we find
Fox, Bishop of Winchester, writing to him during
the time of greatest stress : " I pray God send us
speed and soon deliver you out of your outrageous
charge and labour, else ye shall have a cold
Wolsey as War Minister 25
stomach, little sleep, a pale visage, and thin belly,
cum pari egestione" In fact it is not unlikely that
the strain he went through at this time, reacting
on a constitution never robust, may have laid the
seeds of the many ailments which he suffered from
in after years, and which brought him to an early
grave.
For his task was truly colossal. As Brewer puts
it : " To bring together a large army from every
part of England ; to secure unity of action among
officers, who had never before served together ; to
assemble shipping from different ports ; to ascertain
the tonnage and sailing capacity of the transports ;
to make the necessary provision of beef, bread and
beer ; to place all on board without confusion — all
this demanded an amount of forethought, energy,
patience and administrative genius not to be found
in any other man of that age."
Yet this great and difficult, indeed^tupenadu^
undertaking was achieved by Wols
unexampled success — because his one single power-
ful mind oversaw, controlled, and dominated every-
thing.
Such a concentrated control was, in truth, the
foundation of his influence and his power ; as well
as of his immense success in administration. At
the same time it was one of the prime causes, which
26 England's First Great War Minister
contributed to his downfall. For one thing, it
helped, as we have just indicated, to break down
his health ; as the area of his activities continually
expanded ; until the strain became at last too much
even for his untiring brain to stand. Moreover, it
led him into a growing reluctance to delegate work
to younger men ; or to repose trust in those who
might have lightened a burden that no man could
bear alone. The few he did make use of, and the
few he did trust, were devoted to him ; the others
came to see no way for themselves but in his entire
and irretrievable ruin.
CHAPTER III.
WOLSEY AS MINISTER OF FINANCE.
Rigid Financial Control — Sharp Scrutiny of Contracts and Prices
— Patriotic Economy — Anger of the Profiteers — Wolsey insists on
Good Food for the Troops — Plenty of Good Beer — Public and Private
Waste — The King's Privy Expenses — His Gambling Losses — His
Secret Payments— His fast "Set" — Henry "a Good old Sport" —
Wolsey regulates the Royal Expenditure — His Financial Reforms —
" Do it Now " — Henry's Revenues — Wolsey's Memo of " Things to be
remembered " — All Expenditures and Contingencies Anticipated — No
" Wait and See "—Wolsey's Foresight.
"ZT*S the preparations for the War proceed,
<^r"^ Wolsey seems to get a still tighter grip of
things, and his hand is traced in all directions.
Not least is this the case in the financial sphere ;
for like the true loyal servant of his King and
country that he was, he both disregarded the clamours
of interested persons and neglected his own popu-
larity, in not allowing the Crown to be robbed. In
fact he exhibited that most difficult and rarest form
of patriotism, a keen desire for public economy,
exercising a rigid financial control, which — though,
of course, it enraged the war-job hunters, the needy
28 England's First Great War Minister
parasites of the King, the whole crew of self-seeking
tradesmen, and all the forestallers, regraters and
profiteers — saved the nation immense sums of money
and left it ample means for urgent needs.
For instance, when buying salt fish for the
troops and fleet, he would be content with nothing
less than the best, and at the most favourable prices
to the Crown — holding what may seem to many
people now-a-days the ridiculous and foolish idea
that the State should pay less, and not more, than
private individuals, for what it required. When
contracting for fat oxen for salting, he would
only have the finest beasts from Lincolnshire and
Holland ; and he insisted on securing rebates
for the hides and the tallow. The prices of
flitches of bacon are also submitted to him, likewise
those of biscuits, cheese, dry cod, ling, beef, bacon ;
also of "cauldrons to seethe meat in," etc.
Bills and accounts, in endless number, pass
under his scrutiny ; and on many we may read
notes made by him in his own handwriting. Into
every document, indeed, in every department the
eagle eye of Wolsey peered ; thereby, it is only too
evident, gradually raising up throughout the whole
public service a host of enemies, who found their
schemes for pecujation^of the money of the King
foiled at eve™ turn ; and who, seventeen years
Wolsey as Minister of Finance 29
after, swelled the cry of exultation when the great
minister fell.
Above all Wolsey was determined that the
sailors afloat and the soldiers in the field should
be properly fed, and get all the bread, beef, and
beer they wanted. He appreciated the importance
of fighting men having good food, and he took
warning from the Fontarabian failure to make sure
that the men were well provided with good English
beer, and plenty of it too. But not at all at exces-
sive prices to the Exchequer: and he makes sure
that the casks which it is shipped in are sound, so
that there should be no fear of the beer going bad
after it had been some time on board. He pro-
tests also against the damaging and wasting of the
empty casks, which should be mended and made to
serve again — guarding his master's and his country's
purse always and everywhere as though it were
his own.
And not only is the soldiers' and sailors' food his
care ; but all the innumerable needs likewise of a
navy on a war footing, and an army in the field.
There must be plenty of tankards and platters, of
course, so their prices are gone into ; and that of
wool, too ; and we find him in correspondence about
getting a large consignment of it past the Straits of
Gibraltar, and arranging for the chartering of
30 England's First Great War Minister
Spanish ships to bring it, and many other military
and naval stores besides, over to England, and to
victual the fleet in the Channel.
Notes in his own handwriting also exist showing
that, besides approving the pay of the seamen, he
investigated such varied minor points as the wages
of the servitors on board his Majesty's ships ; the
cost of masters' and pilots' coats ; the pay of the
archers and spearmen in the permanent garrison at
Calais ; the cost of anchors and cables for the fleet.
Again, in the Record Office is to be found an
original letter of his to Sir Robert Dymoke, telling
him that "he has bargained" (which of our haughty
Cabinet Ministers would think of condescending
to bargain with anybody in the interests of the
State, as the " proud prelate " Wolsey did ?) — that
''he has bargained with the bearer, one John van
Esyll of Aeon [? Aachen], for the carrying of the
King's two great culverins [siege guns] with 28 mares
at lod a day for each mare."
It is from casual documents such as these, by
chance preserved to us out of masses which have
perished, that we have to build up an idea of how
Wolsey's activities ranged over the whole area of
the Kingdom's preparation for war.
By such searching methods, as we have recounted,
Wolsey, as Finance Minister to Henry VIII, put
Wolsey as Minister of Finance 31
an effective check on the waste and extravagance
then, as always, prevalent in the Naval and Military
supply services, and then, indeed, in every other
department of the public administration as well.
But he did more than this : for he undertook and
carried through in the midst of all his vast prepara-
tions for the great war — for " the great war" it
most certainly was to the men of that time — and
during its progress likewise, the reorganization of
the whole system of the finances of the Kingdom.
/ Until he took the problem in hand, there had \ f a
(been no regular accounting, no control and no audity/'
Trie King, of course, helped himself whenever he
wanted. Not only was he constantly drawing out
large sums of money — amounting to hundreds of
pounds — for such diverse prodigalities as presents
to ambassadors, alms, jewelry, plate, horses, arms,
saddlery, the tiltyard, Christmas-boxes, New Year's
gifts, tournaments, balls, masques, revels, interludes ;
but he also drew even more largely still — thousands
of pounds every year — for his losses at the gaming
table, dice and card-playing, and his bets at tennis
and other sports.
Many thousands more went out yearly with no
other indication of their destination than the words
" For the King's Use " in the " Boke of the Kynges
Paymentes " — the money being paid into the hands
32 England's First Great War Minister
of Sir William Compton, Henry's most intimate and
confidential favourite, and a pretty dissolute fellow
too himself to boot. We can very well guess, there-
fore, in what directions most of these secret pay-
ments must have made their way — to Elizabeth
Blount, for instance, afterwards Lady Talboys, whom
King Henry, according to that first-rate archivist
the late Major Martin Hume, brought back with him
from Calais at the end of the campaign, and who
afterwards bore him a son, Henry Duke of Richmond.
More than all this : Henry not only helped him-
self freely but he also allowed his companions — the
men of his " set," as we should call them now-a-days,
all rather wild, spendthrift, if not dissipated, young
men — to help themselves almost as freely also.
Many of them were frequently hard up, owing to
extravagance or gambling ; and were accommodated
with grants of every kind, on pretexts of all sorts ;
or with loans never seriously meant to be repaid,
though sometimes a pretence was made of pledging
their plate or jewels as security.
At the same time, in all this it must be conceded
that Henry had the good qualities of his defects,
and was, in his earlier years, distinctly what we
should now call " a good old sport," always ready
to pull a pal out of a hole, or lend him a helping
hand, and a wide-open helping purse, too, to enable
Wolsey as Minister of Finance 33
him to squeeze out of a tight place. In after years,
not being so flush of cash as he was in the beginning
of his reign, when he always had his cautious, canny
father's savings handy to dip into, avarice grew on
him, and he was not so easily got at in that way.
But as yet he was generous, open-handed, and pro-
fuse to a fault.
By all this sort of thing, Wolsey, ever a most
careful husbandman of the resources of the Crown,
was, of course, very gravely worried ; and more than
once at this period he gave vent to his anxiety in an
uneasy exclamation about "the way the King's
money goes out in every corner " : which even hey
with his firm reforming hand, could not altogether
put a stop to. But he regulated it, convincing the
King that it was to his own interests at least to
possess an exact record when, how and to whom
his money was going out, so that, in subsequent
years, the book of his " Privy Purse Expenses" set
out his gambling losses in full, and his lavish presents
to ladies also — even to the great sum he spent
on his " entirely beloved sweetheart's" — the Lady
Anne's — black satin night-gown.
Wolsey doubtless foresaw the time when the late
King's hoardings would give out, and there would be
difficulties and disagreements with Parliament about
getting the subsidies necessary to carry out his
D
34 England's First Great War Minister
already projected, far-seeing schemes of Imperial
policy. So on he went determinedly with his
financial economies and reforms, in spite of the
clamour of interested parties such as scoundrelly
" purveyors " — " contractors " as we should call them
now — idle hangers-on of the Court, and all the
pestilent parasites of the King : and so successfully
did he do so that he was able to reduce the expendi-
ture of the year after the war to half what it was
before the war, and in the year after that — 1515 —
to half what it was in 1514.
No humbugging " Master Almoner " with the
, plausible, putting-off cry : " Nothing must be done
to amend the existing fiscal system until after the
end of the war " — when it would have been too late,
and everything forgotten. " Do it now " was the
maxim Wolsey acted on ; and he did it.
^s< The extraordinary reduction of expenditure/'
says Brewer, " from the moment that Wolsey came
^£?^Mnto power is one of the most remarkable feats' of
iis administration, and shows how entirely he has
been misunderstood by modern histories " — or as
one should rather, perhaps, now say, the older
historians.
To meet his ordinary expenditure Henry VIII
had sources of income, from the rents of the Crown
lands] and the confiscated properties of attainted
Wolsey as Minister of Finance 35
nobles, far in excess of what any of his predecessors
had had ; besides other means of revenue such as
fines, recognizances, licences, wardships, customs on
exports and imports — the ordinary allowance of
"tonnage and poundage," 35-. on every tun of wine
imported and is. a Ib. on all other goods — granted
at the beginning of his reign, and irrespective of
occasional grants of special taxation provided from
time to time by Parliament. Then, apart from all
these, were the large accumulations of capital, already
referred to, which Henry had inherited from his
penurious father — estimated by some historians to
have reached ;£ 1,800,000 — and which were as yet,
though rapidly dwindling, still available for drawing
upon whenever Henry was at all put to it.
But all these resources were, of course, not suffi-
cient to meet the enormous cost of the war, which
was the chief concern of Wolsey in his capacity of
King Henry's Minister of Finance ; and in regard
to which a curiously interesting memorandum of his,
in his own handwriting, for submission to the King,
still survives. It is entitled, " Things to be remem-
bered by the King's Grace, touching his going in
person with an Army Royal into France/' Though
entered in Brewer's " Calendar of State Papers "
under the month of April 1513, it is clear from
internal evidence that it belongs to a much earlier
D 2
36 England's First Great War Minister
date — the end of 1512, probably — or quite the
beginning of 1513.
Setting down the number of fighting men who
would be required at 30,000 — afterwards increased
to 40,000 — how many cavalry and how many infantry
there should be : how they were to be equipped and
how armed, Wolsey estimates the sum needed for
carrying on the war at ^640,000 a year — equivalent
to about ;£ 1 2, 000,000 in modern currency — that is,
the cost to the King's Exchequer, exclusive of the
expense the feudal lords would be put to.
This memorandum, it may be remarked by the
way, is by no means a solitary instance of Wolsey's
far-seeing methods, and his practice, as the prepara-
tions go forward, of always being in advance of
events — never Micawber-like " Waiting to See."
Thus, in another similar memorandum, drawn up
some months later, he not only sets out in anticipa-
tion all his arrangements for the transporting of the
main Army Corps, with the King and his Staff, to
Calais — what number of transports would be required,
of what tonnage, and at what cost ; how the men
were to be distributed among them ; how many
smaller vessels for victualling purposes would also
be required, some to ply between London and
Southampton — not only does he set out all these
and other points, but he also, at the same time, looks
Wolsey as Minister of Finance 37
so far ahead as to make provision, before ever a
man of them had crossed the Channel to France,
for their coming back to England, even forestalling
prospective and contingent difficulties to the extent
of allowing in his arrangements and calculations for
the possibility of the King and his Army being kept
on the other side, by adverse winds, some time
beyond the date provisionally fixed for their return.
Again, in yet another similar document, of a
little later date, we have a detailed estimate, drawn
up for submission to Henry, of all the expenses,
" outward and homeward," likely to be incurred for
the needs of " the whole Army Royal," which was
" to pass over with the King's most Royal Person
... to serve his Highness in the parts of Flanders."
Full particulars are set out in it of the cost of
uniforms ; of mustering and marching expenses ;
of " wages and diets ... for the English foot and
their captains," and "for the horsemen" as well.
Likewise, we have the probable number of " waggons
for victuals " and their cost, and also the charges
for the garrison of Calais, including artillery and
ammunition, for a period of six months. All these,
after making ample allowance for contingencies,
Wolsey estimates will amount to ^372,404 185-. %d.
Consequently, whatever happens Wolsey is pre-
pared for it. Whatever the turn of events, he is
38 England's First Great War Minister
never taken unawares, is never surprised, never
disconcerted ; and therefore, from his lips is never
drawn that pitiable admission of our present-day
political opportunists, who, when the inevitable
results of their own hesitating, floundering, im-
potent, pettifogging policy are revealed, can only
exclaim : " Who'd have ever thought it ? "
39
CHAPTER IV.
WOLSEY'S WAR BUDGET OF 1513.
Application to Parliament — Large Sums willingly Granted — A
Venetian's Report — Particulars of the New Taxes — New Fiscal Prin-
ciples — " Unheard-of Sums of Money " — A Speech in Parliament on
the War and Finance — A " Ginger" Optimist — Provisions of Wolsey's
War Budget of 1513 — Onerous Direct Taxation — Inquisitorial Valua-
tions — Comparison with his War Budget of 1523— All the Blame and
Odium on the Minister — The King's Cunning Pretence of Ignorance —
The Venetian Ambassador's Accurate Information — Diplomatic Life
in London during the War Preparations — Hospitality at the Venetian
Embassy.
of the chief problems propounded by the
King's Almoner in his note of " Things to be
remembered " is : " How the money is to be got to the
extent required ? " Needless to say, there was one
easy way of solving it — by applying to Parliament —
and this Henry, in confident reliance on its loyalty ,.,
and patriotism, straightway proceeded to do. Need-
less also, perhaps, to say, that the members respon-
ded with willingness and alacrity to the proposals
put before them, voting with little debate, and with
the most eager enthusiasm, " ^"600,000 for the ex-
penses of the war, to be paid before the King
40 England's First Great War Minister
crosses the Channel ; and as he has offered to go in
person to France, the Parliament proposes to give
him more money, if needed, until the end of the
war, and that he should have as many troops as he
chooses."'
This is the account given by a particularly well-
informed Italian merchant settled in London, writing
from that city to his brothers in Venice. An equally
well-informed young diplomat, Nicolo di Favri by
name, who was an attach^ at the Venetian Embassy
in London, in a long letter to a friend — the son-in-
law of the Venetian Ambassador, Andrea Badoer —
furnishes him with details as to how the money was
raised. " A tax of a tenth has been levied through-
out the Kingdom : the Lords and great personages
pay according to their property ; tradesmen, servants
and attendants one [four ?] penny a head, equal to 28
Venetian ' piccoli.' This tax will yield a million of
gold (equal says a Venetian merchant to ,£600,000
sterling) ; so that, you see, the King means real
business in this war."
Lord Herbert of Cherbury, in his " History of
Henry VIII " (following Holinshed and Stow),
gives us a few further particulars derived from the
rolls and records of Parliament, which serve to
amplify di Favri's information : " The King," says
Herbert, " obtained two-fifteenths and four demies
Wolseys War Budget 0/1513 41
(property tax). He had also a kind of subsidy, called
Head or Poll-money : that is, of every Duke (there
was only one Duke then, the Duke of Bucking-
ham), ten marks (£6 135-. 4^.); an Earl, five
pounds ; a Lord, four pounds ; a Knight, four marks
(^4 5s- 4-d.) ; every man valued at eight hundred
pounds in goods, four marks ; and so after that rate
till him who had forty shillings in wages, who paid
twelve pence, after which everyone who was above
fifteen years of age, paid four pence." Multiplying
these figures by 15 to 20, we get roughly their
modern equivalents in our current coin.
The voting of such heavy, almost crushing
taxation, based in some respects on fiscal principles
hitherto unknown to English finance ; and the
raising thereby of " unheard-of sums of money to
carry on the war by sea and land, on which the
Parliament of England has resolved " — as James IV
of Scotland, with no little vexation and annoyance,
observed in a letter to the King of Denmark — " in
spite of the outcry of the English against tax-
gatherers " — are topics, both of which, strange to
say, Hall, in his " Chronicle," passed over altogether.
This omission on his part to refer to such very
significant events, is doubtless the reason why many
succeeding historians, who made full use of his
information and implicitly followed his authority,
42 England's First Great War Minister
likewise overlooked them — Grafton of course, for
his chronicle was entirely founded on Hall's, and
in some portions is nothing more than a mere word-
for-word copy of it ; Hume, at a later period,
naturally enough ; and in more recent times, writers
on constitutional history, such as Hallam and
Stubbs — and coming still later — even Brewer himself.
Brewer's overlooking of them was probably due
to there being but scanty reference to what happened
in this important session of Parliament among the
manuscripts in the Record Office : or, indeed, in
any other repository of Tudor archives in England.
Nevertheless, that there was some discussion on
the scheme of new taxation put before the two
Houses by Henry's financial advisers — the King's
Almoner in effect — becomes manifest in what is an
extremely rare thing in Parliamentary history — a
surviving report of a speech in the House of
Commons in the reign of Henry VIII — the speech
in question dealing with the then paramount topic
of the war with France. This interesting manuscript,
consisting of some seventeen pages, is in the
Harleian Collection in the British Museum, and it
provides us with what is evidently an almost
verbatim report — though translated into Latin — of
the' arguments, which some member, of name
unknown, addressed to the House, advocating a
Wolseys War Budget 0/1513 43
vigorous prosecution of the war, discussing at the
same time the provision of funds for the purpose.
Suitably entitled "An oration urging Britons to
war against Gaul — of uncertain authorship," it
affords us by the way an example of the very early
use, even before the Union with Scotland, of the
words " Britons" for Englishmen. Although it is
entered in Brewer's " Calendar of State Papers "
under the year 1514, with the day of the month
"4th of March," it is, as a fact, entirely undated;
and it would seem from internal evidence that it
belongs to the summer of 1513 and not to 1514.
The speaker, it is evident, was an optimist, who
relying greatly on the help England was to get
from her allies, declared that " Ferdinand of Spain
will not fail to assist his son, and Maximilian, a
soldier from his cradle, will join ; while our own
King Henry," he added, " is like the rising sun that
grows brighter and stronger every day."
Not, therefore, without some discussion — (the
echo of which we can hear in the Scottish King's
reference to the outcry in England against tax-
gatherers) — were these imposts passed into law-
imposts which, Lingard alone among all modern
historians gives us particulars of, deriving his informa-
tion from the original rolls of Parliament. " The
clergy," he says, " granted Henry two-tenths, the
44 England's First Great War Minister
laity a tenth, a fifteenth, and a capitation " — to wit,
a duke, £6 1 $s. 4^. ; an earl or marquis, £4. ; and
then downwards to small owners of land above ^"40
yearly value, £i ; and so on in proportion ; while
the owners of personal property were assessed on a
higher scale, those with ^"800 capital value, for
instance, paying £2 13^. ^d. ; with ^400 to ^800,
£2 ; with ^200 to ^400, £i 6s. &d., etc. ; and
labourers and servants at the rate of 6d. in the £
of their yearly wages ; and all other persons, ^d.
This version of the budget of 1513 differs, it will
be noticed, in some details from the two others given
above ; and one must own that it is as difficult
entirely to reconcile them as it is to form a clear
idea of its exact nature. Several points, never-
theless, seem to emerge from the three accounts :
one that the clergy were taxed at a much heavier
rate (for Wolsey never spared his own order) than
were the nobility, or the laity in general ; another
that the taxation was in all cases direct, and in no
respects indirect, levied exclusively on property,
or assessed on the individual ; and further that the
imposts were exceedingly onerous, and involved a
peculiarly searching and vexatious enquiry into the
property — both capital and income — of landowners,
and still more into that of owners of personal or
movable wealth.
Wolseys War Budget 0/1513 45
For the valuations were carried out on the spot
by the King's commissioners, armed with the powers
of the most inquisitorial kind, allowing of the inspec-
tion of books, and the examination of a man's
neighbours and of his servants — anticipating, though
scarcely coming up to, for the extraordinary exigencies
of a great war, the arbitrary methods of modern demo-
cratic governments for the ordinary exigencies of
times of peace. Nothing, indeed, is new under the
sun ; and least of all in the devices of financiers
and politicians in want of money.
That the amount raised by these new and very
obnoxious, though equitable, taxes, must have been
thought to be, and really was, exorbitant, is proved
by the fact that the ^600,000 obtained by Wolsey,
or by his advice in 1513, was only a quarter less
than what was obtained by him ten years later.
That was the time when such a violent turmoil
arose against the then Cardinal's proposals through-
out the whole country — among the nobility, the clergy,
the ordinary landlords, the small owners, the culti-
vators of soil, and the inhabitants of the towns
alike; and when his budget ot 1523 — to vindicate
which he appeared in person in the House of
Commons — was discussed, amidst intense excitement
and outbursts of unparallelled fierceness and passion,
for no less than sixteen days ; proving, it may be
46 England's First Great War Minister
noted by the way, that parliamentary debates in the
olden times of the Tudors were by no means always
so tame and perfunctory, nor members so submis-
sive, as some writers would have us believe.
That Wolsey's earlier budget, which is our real
concern here, passed both Houses comparatively
calmly was due, we may suppose, to Henry's
youthful popularity, to the prosperous condition of
the country at the time, and to Wolsey not then
being prominent enough to invite attack from the
discontented, or to bear the brunt of any dislike
the new taxes and their new basic principles
engendered. Whatever murmurings may have
broken out must soon have been stifled in the
general wild outburst of war fever, and the universal
desire among all men to testify their loyalty to their
gallant young sovereign.
Yet in its principle, scope and incidence, as well
as in the total amount levied, there does not appear
to have been so very much difference between
Wolsey's first war budget and his second ; both of
which, indeed, have their close counterparts in the
war budgets of 1915 and 1916, in respect to the
enormous burdens placed on accumulated property,
and the interest or revenue therefrom. Therefore,
what Brewer says of the later may, in a lesser
degree, be also asserted of the earlier one, in which
Wolsey s War Budget 0/1513 47
Wolsey already began, tentatively, to apply the
principles, that afterwards were not only to underlay,
but to be so carried to their logical outcome as
entirely to pervade, his still more remarkable achieve-
ment— his great war budget of 1523.
This is what Brewer, with his unrivalled means
for forming a true and correct estimate, says
of it:
" This first attempt at taxation on a scientific
and impartial basis is a conspicuous proof of the j
genius and extraordinary audacity of Wolsey. After
all the studies of the economists during the last two
centuries, we have reverted to the principles and
almost to the practice of the great minister, who
with no complete statistics, no means and no
organization, such as modern financiers can abun-
dantly command, struck out, in the necessity of the
moment, under the pressure of a great war, a
financial scheme which has never yet been surpassed
in the sweep and fairness of its operation, or the
general correctness of its theory. That he should
have stood alone, that alone, in spite of all opposition
from the clergy and laity, he should have carried
this project, are indications of confidence in
his powers, and in the fertility of his resources.
To no clamour and no combinations did Wolsey
yield."
48 England's First Great War Minister
And again: "Taxation so oppressive, and yet
so general, argues either the greatest boldness in
the minister who projected it, of which we have no
parallel in history, or his well-founded belief in the
prosperity and elasticity of the nation. Perhaps
both. Whatever might be the hardship or temporary
evils entailed by these measures, the whole weight
of their responsibility fell on his shoulders. It was
felt that his brain alone had conceived and concerted
these measures, that to his energy and to his
authority alone they owed their existence." There-
fore on him, and on him alone, should all the
trouble and the labour fall — all the odium and
blame.
Although the animosities which must have been
kindled by the budget of 1513 did not then at once
burst out into a flame, it does not at all follow that
the fire wasn't there. It had been lit : and though
it long lay smouldering, it broke out with all the
greater fury when the fuel of 1523 was added
thereto.
For Wolsey's first introduction of the great and
novel, but in the view of those whom it was aimed
at, outrageous, principle of laying the heaviest loads
on the shoulders most able to bear them — even
blending therewith some elements of the still
more obnoxious and preposterous theory, of gradua-
Wolseys War Budget 0/~ 1513 49
tion — was one not to be easily or quickly forgotten
by those whom it chiefly concerned. In long after
years, when the great National and Imperial states-
man was tottering to his fall, those who had been
forced by him to disgorge some of their piled-up
super-abundance for the need of State, came out
in the full panoply of long-cherished memories of
resentment. Well can we imagine them — the big
lords, the fat abbots, the pursy burgesses — whetting
their daggers of hate, and rushing in on the staggering
minister, each one aiming at him his own private
stab of revenge, as they all urged one another
on with the too-long-stifled cry : " Remember his
budgets of 1513 and 1523 !"
That the King, while reaping the full advantage
of the hated exactions, should wisely have kept in
the background, and cleverly pretending that he
knew nothing whatever about them all, should have
cunningly contrived to throw the whole odium on
his powerful but unpopular minister — who, be it
observed, with the most devoted loyalty and of set
purpose, willingly took it all on himself — is only
what we, with our fuller knowledge of to-day, would
expect of him. It is what Shakespeare — or rather
we should say, perhaps, Fletcher — devined clearly
enough three hundred years ago, through the vivid
imagination of a poet, and the penetrating insight of
SO England's First Great War Minister
a dramatist into motives, when he put into Henry's
mouth the words :
" Taxation !
Wherein ? and what taxation ? My Lord Cardinal,
You that are blamed for this alike with us,
Xnow you of this taxation ? "
Turning back again to the correspondence
adverted to above, as emanating from the Venetian
Embassy and from Venetian merchants in London
in the winter and spring of 1513, during Wolsey's
preparations for the war, we find the Ambassador
himself writing to the Doge and Signory an account,
very similar to his attache's, of the cordial response
of Parliament to King Henry's appeal for money to
carry out his great enterprise. Indeed, the discovery
and publication in our day of the despatches and
letters of these most careful of observers has pro-
vided us with a commentary on English affairs
during Wolsey's administration of a nature so
authentic, so intimate and so impartial, as to have
been undreamt of, and unhoped for, by historians in
former times.
Badoer, indeed, and his staff had exceptional
opportunities for procuring accurate information ; for,
speaking English like an Englishman and thoroughly
understanding English habits and customs, he was
very popular in London Society, and, says his young
Wolseys War Budget of 1 5 1 3 51
attache, " a great favourite with the King and the
great Lord of the Council and of Parliament."
This and other particulars about him we have
from di Favri, whom we have already quoted, and
by whom a picture is drawn, as valuable histori-
cally as it is curious socially, of the relations of the
Ambassador with the political life of the period in
London, whilst the preparations for the war were
at their height and Wolsey's first budget was being
discussed in Parliament. He tells his friend in
Venice, for instance, how his chief's house — being
situated on the Thames near Charing Cross, midway
between the houses of the great nobles along the
Strand and the Palace of Westminster, where they
attended every morning daily during the Parlia-
mentary session — was used by them, as they
passed to and fro by road or river, as a sort of
half-way house to stop at and have a chat with the
charming old Ambassador. Those were days, be it
remembered, when there was no club house to go
to in Pall Mall, and not even a refreshment bar to
loaf round in the lobby of the House of Commons —
only a tavern or an ale-house or two in the Strand,
hardly places for the political bosses of the day to
meet and gossip in.
And so members of both Houses, " great Lords "
as well as " Knights of the Shire," would drop in
E 2
52 England's First Great War Minister
on Badoer, sometimes for breakfast before the
sittings of the House, sometimes for dinner after
them.
" The Ambassador, indeed," writes di Favri,
"is at very great expense daily receiving these visits
from one nobleman or another, most especially now
that Parliament is sitting. This custom is by reason
of the love they bear him"-— and doubtless also by
reason of the love they bore the very good table he
kept.
For old Badoer, high-bred, refined Italian as
he was, knowing what's what in food and cooking,
and still more in choice wines, did all his guests
uncommonly well : " So they come, each with sixteen
servants, more or less, some to dinner others to
breakfast ; and the ambassador is always very glad
to see them, and everybody likes him from the
highest to the lowest : indeed were he a peer of the
Realm the King and the nobility could not love him
more cordially than they do. This is owing to his
mature age, and because he is conversant with the
manners and language of England, as if born in
the country." And this is just what gives his
despatches such value to us now.
If he was out when his friends called — which he
was likely to be if they came early, as " every
morning at day-break he went off to mass arm-in-
Wolseys War Budget of 1513 53
arm with some English nobleman, and then walked
up and down for an hour before returning home "
his servants had orders, if he hadn't got back in
time to receive his guests, " to ask them to come in
and wait for him, and refreshments are served in the
meanwhile." " For," writes di Favri, " the ambas-
sador is always prepared ; and he has six sorts of
wines, some paid for, others got on credit," adds his
indiscreet, too babbling attach^ ; " he has no money,
though his credit is good. He has pawned his plate
and sold his gowns, but still remains much in debt."
Nowadays one would scarcely say of an Ambas-
sador that " his credit is good," if he were reduced
to taking his plate and his fur coats round to the
pawnshop to raise the needful to get on at all. But
such were the trials and struggles of a popular, but
rather impecunious, foreign diplomatist in England,
in the reign of Henry VIII, who kept open house
for his smart friends in London in the year of grace
1513 : in strict conformity, be it stated, with the
specific instructions he had received on his appoint-
ment from the Council and Senate of Venice, that
he was " to keep in with the court and associate
with noblemen, more especially the chief personages
of the Realm."
Yet Badoer had to complain that the Signory
had, nevertheless, cut down his salary, and often let
54 England's First Great War Minister
its payment be months in arrears. For, as his
attache rightly declared, "an Ambassador ought
not to seek to make money by trade, but merely learn
what is going on at court and in the world : " and
that he certainly did, always getting early knowledge
of the trend of events, which his friends, in their
daily visits, kept him thoroughly informed of — about
the King, and his councillors, and the Parliament
and the taxes, and the war and all the preparations
for it, not in money only but in men and arms and
ships and supplies and victuals, as we shall see
later on.
Thus far for the ways and means whereby
Wolsey was able to ensure the Money needful for
the prosecution of the war with all that vigour and
thoroughness which characterized everything he
undertook.
55
CHAPTER V.
HOW WOLSEY GOT THE MEN.
Summons to the Military Tenants — " Push and Go " — Wolsey a
Hustler — His Impatience with Dawdlers and Dalliers — No " Cons-
cientious Objectors " then — Mustering and Enrolling — " Commissions
of Array " — " All Men between Sixty and Sixteen to take Arms " —
Royal Fear of the Feudal Lords — Service Abroad " in case of Inva-
sion " — Universal Service in Tudor Times — Defence of the King's
Dominions — King Henry's Clarion Call — Wolsey the Organizing and
Unifying Head.
N OTHER of Wolsey 's main concerns was
obtaining the necessary number of Men.
This, however, was a relatively easy task, compared
with what the getting of the money had been — as it
is to-day for the government of any country in
which universal service prevails. For, once the
summons to the military tenants of the crown had
been issued by the King, supplemented by Com-
missions of Array, the flow of recruits in sufficient
numbers was automatic and continuous. All that
the King's Almoner, acting then as Secretary of
State for War, had to do, was to fix the number of
the men he required, and where and when — not
56 England's First Great War Minister
waiting until the pressure became urgent, but settling
all these points months in advance. Fortunately,
in doing this he had the immense advantage over
the Continental powers of being free to make his
arrangements unfettered by the menace of a hostile
offensive on the part of the enemy. Therefore,
when the need was on him, there stood the men
ready to his hand, where he wanted them, and
when he wanted them, well drilled, fully equipped,
admirably armed and battle-ready.
Of course, all this he was not able to achieve
without a good deal of push and go : for Wolsey,
as War Minister, was a hustler, if ever there was
one — a terror among the sluggish-minded, slow-
moving of our fellow-countrymen, in this placid,
sea-lapped island of ours. For he was of that rare,
but when it does exist, supreme, pre-eminent type
of man — the intensely imaginative, but at the same
time intensely practical, Englishman — a man of the
stamp of Shakespeare, Bacon, Chatham, and all our
great Empire builders from Drake and Raleigh to
Rhodes and Hughes. " A soul as capacious as
the sea," as Brewer said of him, " and as minute as
the sands upon its shores, when minuteness was
required, he could do nothing meanly."
As a consequence, of course, his ideas and
schemes were as little to the taste of many as were
How Wolsey got the Men 57
his methods. For there were then, as always in our
wars, mean-minded dawdlers and dalliers amongst
us, in every class and section of the nation : doctrine-
ridden pedants, nursing their foolish, ingrained
narrowness ; hide-bound egotists also, careless of all
and everything except their own interests, profit or
convenience ; others again, of unconquerable com-
placency of mind, and immovable torpidity of body,
hampering the all-consuming, unappeasable energy
of Wolsey. Others, merely disconcerted and bewil-
dered by the high pressure at which he kept
everything going, were scarcely less tiresomely ob-
structive.
That such as these too often vexed and chafed
the loyal ardent soul of Henry's great minister, we
have evidence in several letters of his, in which his
irritation breaks out in blunt-spoken words against
the lack of zeal, the tarrying, the delays encountered
in so many quarters : though eventually, with the
King's strong and hearty support, he surmounts all
obstacles and all hindrances to his then one over-
ruling, all -encompassing purpose — the drastic waging
of the war.
One intense irritation, however, was spared him
and his countrymen of that time, which the ordinary
loyal and patriotic Englishmen of to-day has calmly
and meekly to put up with. Not the quaint vagaries
58 England's First Great War Minister
of the misguided, but honest, Quaker of old ; nor
even the frank admission of trembling terror in the
candid funker, who exists at all times and in all
countries ; but the revelation of the hideous depths
of hypocrisy and meanness into which unrestrained
selfishness and cowardice can sink that emasculate
human skunk — the modern " conscientious objector."
As for the enrolling and the mustering and the
drilling of the men, that, of course, went on without
Wolsey's personal supervision. For they were
functions appertaining primarily to the great feudal
lords in the various counties, and were discharged
by them, each on his own land, in regard to his own
tenants. Yet even on these points his advice or
direction seems often to have been invoked.
But apart from the usual machinery of the feudal
system, " Commissions of Array" had been issued
by the King on January 28th, 1513, to the Sheriffs
of all the southern counties " to make proclamations
for all males between sixty and sixteen to take arms
and be in readiness at an hour's warning to resort,
by February next, to such place in the said county
as shall be assigned," by the chief lords in each — in
Kent Lord Abergavenny and others — "who are
deputed for the shire and the sea coast, to resist
the invasion of France."
Documents such as this relating to matters of
How Wolsey got the Men 59
mustering and service are unfortunately so few and
casual, and the information afforded by them — when
they have survived at all — or from other sources,
is so fragmentary and incoherent that it is impossible
to form a consistent idea of what actually took place.
It is not clear, for example, whether similar sum-
monses were also sent out to such northern and
western counties as touched the sea : still less
whether they went out on this occasion to inland
counties without sea-board generally — as they cer-
tainly did in 1512 and on other occasions, and as
they did on this one to Wiltshire, at any rate.
What, however, is clear, we think, is that the
men — not limited, be it observed, to freeholders, copy-
holders or tenants — who were called up in defence
of their country, were so called up by the inherent
authority of the Crown, issued not through the
great military tenants, but independently of them —
over their heads, as it were, to the King's execu-
tive officer in each county, the Sheriff, who was
deputed, each in his own county, to name one or
more great lords (not the Lord- Lieutenant, whose
office was not established until some forty years
later) to take command, the lords selected being
doubtless those whom the King had good reasons
for trusting.
For fear of the great feudal nobles, and jealousy
^60 England ' s First Great War Minister
of any of them levying and controlling excessively
large forces, were ever-present influences with the
Crown, even during the Tudor period, and particu-
larly in this earlier part of it. A curious instance of
this is revealed to us by one of the records— a
proclamation issued by Henry VIII in July, 1512
— which, after pointing out that "the King had
commanded all lords and nobles to prepare their
tenants for the war, and none but their tenants," or
men employed by them, goes on to command that
none " shall have any retainers contrary to the laws."
But the interesting question how far the King
could require these militia — as they in fact were—
to serve beyond their own county, and still more,
whether he could compel them to serve abroad across
the seas at all, except — in the words of the old taunt—
"in case of actual invasion," remains unanswered;
as also does the question whether, in fact, any men
belonging to it did so serve in this war, by coercion
of the King or of the tenants in capita, by consent,
by " peaceful persuasion," by free volunteering, or by
any other means.
The question is further complicated by the fact
that Calais, with the English pale, was at that time
actually part of the King's dominions ; while Guienne,
Aquitaine, Touraine and Normandy, if not the
whole of France, became — from the moment of the
How Wolsey got the Men 6r.
declaration of war, and the consequent termination
of the treaties between the two countries — in theory,
at any rate, equally portions of the Dominions of
the Crown, which every Englishman between the
ages of sixteen and sixty might, in theory also, it
would seem, be called out to defend, equally with
Ireland and the Isles of Man and Wight, or of
Jersey and Guernsey.
At any rate, it seems clear that in the time of
the Tudors — whatever may have been the case in
the time of the Stuarts — the accepted view was that
all the reserve manhood of the nation, in addition
to the regular feudal forces of the Crown, might be
called up at any time to meet a great national
emergency. Harrison, who wrote his well-known
" Description of England " in the middle of the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, when referring to the
musters — " National registration," as we should call
them now — taken in 1574-5, declared : "as for able
men for service, thanked be God ! we are not with-
out good store " ; and he assumed that, as a matter
of course, every man of them might be called up—
that is for defensive home service. Their number
he reckoned at nearly one million and a quarter, not
including 350,000 more "left unbilled and uncalled."
More immediately to the point for our present
topic is the assertion of the author of the remarkable
62 England's First Great War Minister
contemporary speech, already referred to, on the
war of 1513, who declared that " Britain could raise
and arm, if the need arose, not merely 30,000, but
easily ten times that number of able-bodied men for
a Continental war " — and this without including
either the 40,000 transported by the King to
France, or the 30,000 more who fought under
Surrey against the Scots at Flodden — making a
total of some 400,000 men, who certainly could not
have been raised through the feudal tenants alone.
The difference in the two estimates of numbers
must have been due partly to the increase of popula-
tion in England during the intervening half century ;
but more to the different standards set for defensive
service at home, and for offensive service abroad
against trained Continental troops.
These points have a sort of theoretic interest
at the present time — though less now than a few
months ago. For it is open to question whether
the militia might not, in strict law, be called up to
defend not only the British Isles but also the
present dominions of the Crown beyond the seas,
if threatened with invasion, and be required for
that purpose to go to such dominions and fight there
against the King's enemies attacking the same —
and even to carry the war into the enemies' own
country for the same defensive purpose.
How Wolsey got the Men 63
However these things may have been, or may
now be, it has always to be remembered that the
whole training, arming, discipline, and general
military efficiency of the hastily raised Tudor militia
must have been very inferior to that of the regular
feudatory forces of the Crown, whose duty to serve
at any time, and anywhere, in England or on the
Continent, in support of their King and country
never was, and never could have been, disputed.
And least of all on this occasion when the
summons was a clarion call from a young, high-
spirited, generous, and chivalrous monarch, daily
gaining in popularity and power, who invoked their
aid to defend Holy Church and to curb the over-
weening and threatening ambition of England's
" ancient hereditary enemy " ; and who, moreover,
announced that he intended to place himself at their
head and to lead them on in person to victory.
Loyalty and enthusiasm, however, in the feudal
lords and their regiments — the " grand captains "
and their " retinues," as they were called — would
have served but little by themselves to produce such
a strong, efficient army, as should meet, on equal
terms, the serried legions and the war-tempered
chivalry of France. What was needed was, the
merging of these separate, independent contingents,
scattered throughout the various counties of England,
64 England's First Great War Minister
into one military machine, by a single, organizing
head ; the transforming of unconnected, unsubordi-
nated groups into linked and subordinated members
of one great organism, by one supreme, controlling
power.
Such a unifying head and such a controlling
power was forthcoming in the King's Almoner, who,
wielding the whole prerogative of the Crown, was
able, by his incomparable genius for organization,
and with his unerring instinct for rule, to bring
together, and into order, all the straggling elements
of the King's military forces, and to weld them into
one compact and mighty whole. That he should
have accomplished this, and he not a soldier, is one
of the most remarkable of the many remarkable
achievements of his extraordinary career.
CHAPTER VI.
WOLSEY AS MINISTER OF MUNITIONS.
Arms and Ammunition — Armour and Artillery from Abroad — Big
Guns — Foundries Established — Powerful Siege Artillery — King
Henry's "Twelve Apostles" — Wolsey Wakes England up — Great
Activity in the Land — Amazement of Foreigners — " No Business
Doing" — King Henry and His Ships — Acts as Admiral, Mariner and
Gunner — Feather-headed Tavern Talk — Wolsey 's Warnings — His
Candour and Loyalty — How he did not Act — " Knowing the Perils
of the Situation " — Never misled his Master —Did not reduce the
Artillery — Nor cut down the Number of Fighting Men — Did not pose
as a " Strategist " — A really " Responsible " Minister— Not as Now.
V/j|"OLSEY thus assured of properly organized
and trained Men enough ; and secure also,
as we have seen above, of Money enough ; had, at
the same time, the equally important task of procuring
Munitions enough, both for the King's Navy as
well as for his Army. And here again his vigorous,
ardent spirit and his rapid practical methods quickly
accomplished marvels. Arms, Armour, Ammunition,
Artillery — these, and many other requisites for an
army mobilized and a fleet in being, engaged for
months the constant and assiduous attention of
Henry VIII's " Minister of Munitions."
F
66 England's First Great War Minister
Evidence of this abounds in the State records
of the time, revealing him as ever indefatigable in
the adequate arming of every branch of his master's
naval and military forces. Bows and arrows ; pikes
and bills ; lances and partizans — all these were,
of course, nowhere better made than in England,
where as many as might be required could easily
and quickly be supplied. Gunpowder, too, was
mainly made in England ; and enormous stores of
it accumulated in the Tower of London, at South-
ampton, and at Calais also. But for swords and
" hand-guns," armour and artillery — though these
likewise were manufactured at home — recourse had
largely to be had to foreign makers.
In Italy, especially, big contracts were placed
for armour — thousands of suits being purchased
through the agency of the great Florentine bankers,
the Friscobaldi, and from Guydo Portinari and John
Cavelcanti, merchants of Florence ; and in Spain as
well, though to a lesser extent, whence ships and
guns were principally obtained. From Germany
sometimes, and oftener from Flanders, much artillery
was got and sent from M alines, Brussels and other
towns, to the ordnance stores at Calais. " Ser-
pentines " (guns weighing, when for field use, about
i2Oolbs.), " murderers " (small swivel guns), brass
" curtals " (heavy guns of some 3000 Ibs., used
Wolsey as Minister of Munitions 67
mainly as siege pieces, but also mounted on ships),
"bombards" (mortars), " falcons " (light cannon,
4 'having 800 Ib. and two inches and a-half within
the mouth") and " culverins " (great siege pieces,
which, as we have seen on a former page, required
fourteen horses each to draw them) — such were
some of the ordnance cast for the King of England
in 1513-
And not only abroad : for foundries for great
guns and cannon ball were then, for the first time in
English history, established in our own country by
the enterprise and prescience of Wolsey. Henry
VIII also, guided, as we may assume, by his clear-
sighted, far-seeing minister, from this time forward,
gave full recognition to the growing importance that
artillery pieces, and especially heavy guns, were
already assuming, and were likely in the future still
further to hold, in modern warfare ; so much so that
artillery was already something of a fad with him,
in which he had some technical knowledge and
always took a keen personal interest. Thereafter it
became a department of war, in which the lead
taken by England was of immense advantage to
her in the great struggle with Spain at the close of
the century.
At the period we are treating of, nothing
pleased Henry more than to expatiate in his
F 2
68 England's First Great War Minister
letters to sovereigns or his ministers abroad, on
the terrible instruments of destruction he was
preparing for his foes. Above all was he proud
of twelve great guns, bigger than any ever cast
before, each named after one of the Apostles
and furnished with an effigy of the Saint ; so
that throughout Europe was bruited the fame of
the King of England's " Twelve Apostles," who
were to preach, in tones of thunder and with tongues
of fire, Henry's new crusade in defence of the
Church of God and the Christian Faith. In the
subsequent campaign, though " St. John " was
captured by the French and borne in triumph to
Boulogne, the remaining eleven successfully battered
the walls of Therouanne and Tournay, and brought
about the fall of these two important fortresses.
All this unusual energy of war-like preparation
— so different from what it had been before the
Fontarabian Expedition — rising, under the spur of
the animating lead and driving force of Wolsey, into
a fervid activity, stimulated and exalted still further
by the lofty enthusiasm of the young monarch — all
this was not a little surprising and astonishing to
foreigners living in England.
It was so, even to those who rather prided
themselves on their clear insight into that standing
enigma for an alien — often very puzzling too in its
Wolsey as Minister of Munitions 69
manifestations even for a native-born Englishman—
the real English mind and spirit, apparently so often
inconsistent, but yet essentially so steadfast, constant
and true. Hitherto these friendly strangers in our
midst had only known the ordinary, stagnant England
of peace-time, and the ordinary, easy-going, rather
bovine, Englishman of every-day life : and now, in
war-time, the difference was unimaginably vast and
amazing.
" These English go a good pace I can tell
you " : — writes di Favri, the attach^ of the Venetian
Embassy already quoted — " and enormous prepara-
tions are being made to stand the brunt of the
coming conflict. . . . Night and day, and on all
festivals, the cannon founders are at work." A
similar report is given a month later by a Venetian
merchant residing in London : " There is no business
doing" he somewhat plaintively observes — for at such
a time Wolsey wouldn't have listened for a moment
to the mean, self-interested wail of a few selfish,
grabbing tradesmen and contractors — " Business as
Usual." " All are engaged in preparations for the
war," he goes on to say, "and the chief trade is in
military stores and equipment."
The Ambassador, also, writing in cypher to the
Doge and Signory, says : " The King is making
extraordinary preparations against France. He goes
7o England's First Great War Minister
every day down to the docks to hasten the fleet "—
often accompanied, we make no doubt, by his
indispensable, ubiquitous minister, under whose ever-
watchful and all-watching eye the work of the
King's dockyards went on — " to see the ships
building for him, and above all his great ship " —
the " Great Harry."
Henry, indeed, at all times took keen interest in
everything concerning the sea and ships. He was
something of a yachtsman, not to say sailor, himself;
and he always delighted in identifying himself with
his navy.
Sometimes his Grace would step forth — on the
occasion, for instance, of the launching of one of his
new big battleships — as an Admiral of the Fleet,
with his badge of office, an enormous gold bejewelled
whistle, hanging from a massive gold chain round
his neck ; and "dressed galley-fashion, in a vest of
gold brocade, reaching to the middle of the thigh,
breeches of cloth of gold and scarlet hose." His
whistle —
" Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give
To sounds confused " —
" he blew near as loud as a trumpet " ; so that with
his commanding figure, and his gorgeous apparel,
there could be no doubt where, among the brilliant
Wolsey as Minister of Munitions 71
throng of officers, stood the Supreme Head of the
" King's Navy Royal."
At other times, so proud was he of his technical
knowlege of seamanship, if not of his practical skill
in it, that he would appear on board the Admiral's
flag-ship in the character of a mariner or pilot — to
the huge delight of the sailors — dressing for the
part, of course, in the usual cloth of gold. Again,
on another occasion we hear of him as a master
gunner, " testing some new guns, and having
them fired again and again, and marking their
range."
Besides King Henry's building of new ships of
war, embargo was laid — so we learn from the report,
above quoted, of the Venetian Ambassador — " on all
foreign and neutral ships in English ports ; and all
the English ships of 300 butts and upwards are
taken over by the King," being converted from
' merchantmen into transports or ships of war. He
might have added that men-of-war, transports,
and victuallers were also being bought or hired
in large numbers from Spain and Italy.
Badoer goes on to say : "The opinion is generally
expressed that the King of England will have a
great victory"; and di Favri : " It is supposed
that the King of France will go and hide him-
self in a hole underground, rather than meet the
72 England's First Great War Minister
army of England, which, please God, is to take the
field in the spring."
But here these acute observers were assuredly
retailing, not the solid, sensible opinion of the best-
informed people, but the boastful, cocksure, pot-
house, " optimistic " talk among the more ignorant
and feather-headed, bred in a ridiculous, insular
ignorance, which has so often in our history been
mischievously fostered by self-seeking politicians for
party and personal purposes, in order to cover up
their own shortcomings and want of foresight, and
to blind the mass of our fellow-countrymen to the
seriousness of our international undertakings.
Wolsey and the men about him, it is certain,
shared no such delusions as to the magnitude of the
struggle England had entered on ; and he did not
in the least pander to any such fallacies in others ;
nor did he, by any of his actions, give colour to
them. On the contrary, he knew that the path of
true patriotism for him lay in candour to his King
and countrymen : and he followed it. Hence his
determined, unremitting precautions and warnings
against failure, which he perceived might overtake
the whole expedition, unless nothing was left to
chance, and every possible mishap or accident
guarded against.
Wolsey was, in truth, too loyal and patriotic
Wolsey as Minister of Munitions 73
ever to have betrayed the Sovereign of his country
by hiding the real condition of his affairs from him —
the Sovereign who employed him and paid him
that he might learn the truth. If he knew, for
example, of plots and schemes on the part of
Louis XII against England, he didn't, though
u deeply concerned and uneasy," keep the know-
ledge to himself, and afterwards have the effrontery
to turn round on his employer and paymaster and
upbraid him for ''an indisposition to reflect," and tax
him with being "not disposed to listen to the few
who preached " ; when, on his own showing, out of
his own mouth, it had all the while been his own
deceitful secrecy, and his own faithless keeping
back what he knew of the sovereign and the
country he was pleased to claim as " his spiritual
home," which had chiefly produced and fostered
that very indisposition he afterwards tried to seize
on as an excuse for his own misconduct. Neither
had Wolsey, " knowing the perils of the situation —
where the powder magazine lay " — done his best to
hide it from his master ; allowing him to go on as if
it was not there at all ; ready to hazard his total
destruction in its sudden explosion.
Nor did he falsely assure Henry VIII, when
that king sought his advice in 1512, that " in naval
and military defense he was absolutely and com-
74 England's First Great War Minister
pletely equipped to meet all emergencies and
situations " ; nor blatantly declare that anyone who
said he was not, spoke " in a blue funk." Nor did
he, knowing all the risks and dangers, call for " a
reduction not of thousands but of millions," in his
country's defence ; proclaiming that " it was gall and
wormwood to his heart to see its armaments
expanding " — in face of its daily growing perils !
Never had Wolsey, in very fact, recklessly and
perversely reduced King Henry's artillery ; never
cut down the number of trained men to be brought
into the field by the feudal lords ; never loudly
vaunted that " if his name should ever be mentioned
in the future " — (on the contrary, humbly speaking
of "when I am forgotten, as I shall be," and "no
mention of me more must be heard of") — that " he
would like people to say he had helped to bury
' Commissions of Array ' in a deep grave " ; never,
with insufferable self-complacency, preened himself
on being a " strategist," superior to the greatest
soldier of his age ; and, with the most ridiculous
conceit, presumed to lecture that great soldier on
his want of " that understanding, which is vital to a
proper military organization." Neither did Wolsey
stigmatize such a soldier's patriotic and sagacious
warnings as " deplorable, pernicious and dangerous,"
and declare that "with sober men to conduct our
Wolsey as Minister of Munitions 75
affairs," there was no risk at all of England ever
being involved in war in Europe.
Wolsey did not say or do any of these things ;
or anything like them. Indeed he couldn't have
said or done them, being the man he was —
an entirely devoted, true-hearted servant of the
Crown.
Moreover, he was a responsible minister — respon-
sible to his King as the emblem and representative
of the nation at large, in days when the word " re-
sponsibility " as applied to a politician, had some
meaning : when a man might wear himself to disease
and nigh unto death, by unceasing and exhausting
labours in self-sacrificing, unstinted service to the
State ; and yet, if he fell short of complete success,
or failed to give full satisfaction to a capricious
monarch, would probably be dismissed in disgrace,
a ruined, broken man, to end his days perhaps in
prison, or more likely on the scaffold.
Not as now, when a so-called " responsible "
minister of the Crown never incurs any punish-
ment whatever for his failure or misdeeds — be the
mischief he has done what it may, or the duty
he has neglected to do, what it may. Instead of
retribution overtaking him, he looks serenely round,
smiling as he gazes, with exasperating self-sufficiency,
on the ruin, destruction and death which his own
76 England 's First Great War Minister
dishonest subterfuges, his own tortuous timidity,
his own piffling feebleness, his own trivial joking,
have brought upon thousands whom it was his
solemn duty to safeguard. Then, evading all
difficulties by the " magnanimity " of a voluntary
resignation, he is able to slip safely away to croon
over his spoils — a, peerage and a pension.
Wolsey, then, being the loyal, as well as respon-
sible, adviser to the Crown that we have shown that
he was, pointed out, with clear-sighted candour, the
great task that lay before the King and his people,
so that they both put forward their greatest efforts
to meet it.
77
CHAPTER VII.
VICTUALLING AND VARIOUS REQUIREMENTS.
Urgency of Victualling both for the Navy and Army — Naval and
Military Bases — Enormous Stores of Food at Calais — Immense
Numbers of Beasts Slaughtered and Salted — Rise in Prices — A
Wonderfully Provisioned Army — Cavalry Horses — Draught Horses —
Flanders Mares — Tents — The King's Gorgeous Pavilions — Forty
Thousand Men under Canvas — Periscopes for the Trenches.
ITT H US went on, during the winter and spring
of 1513, Wolsey's work of preparation in the
matter of the money, men and munitions, needful
for the successful waging of the war in the ensuing
summer.
But there were other preoccupations of his at
the same time, scarcely less vital and equally urgent,
first, for instance, that of victualling — the immediate
victualling of the fleet, then about to put to sea,
and the immediate arranging, in advance, for the
victualling of the army, when it should take the
field a few months later. These two matters were
treated by him as branches of one and the same
business : and rightly so. For the complete sever-
ance between the Army and Navy, which has
78 England's First Great War Minister
existed for now nearly four centuries, scarcely pre-
vailed at all at that time, the higher officers of the
Navy being in command of the soldiers aboard
ship, as well as of the sailors ; while the petty
officers and lower grades were also interchangeable
between the two services at need.
Some points connected with this sphere of
Wolsey's activities have already been touched on
incidentally on an earlier page, and we shall have
occasion to return to the subject shortly, in relation
to the supply of victuals to the fleet, after it had
been at sea some weeks. What has to be said here
about the victualling of the army need not detain us
long. It was, of course, at Calais, the main military
base, where the greatest stores of food and drink
were accumulated ; as to which also we shall have
something more to say a little further on ; while the
smaller fortresses or castles of Guisnes and Hammes
within the English pale were constituted as sub-
sidiary bases for provisions and stores of all sorts —
the main base for the Navy being, of course, South-
ampton, with London, Plymouth, Dover and the
Cinque ports as auxiliary ones.
Into Calais throughout the months of February,
March and April stores of food were being steadily
poured, in anticipation of the time when the King
would have from 40,000 to 60,000 men operating
Victualling and Various Requirements 79
in France — the feeding of whom, considering the
circumstances of those times, only the most careful
prevision could successfully cope with. As examples
of how the work was carried on we may note two
or three items from such scraps of the old accounts
as happen to be preserved to us. In February
.£51,000 was paid to John Daunce, " Treasurer of
the War," for victualling and conveying the stuff
across the sea to Calais. Then on April Qth we
find record of the ordering of " 20,000 quarters of
malt, 3000 quarters of beans, the same of oats, and
300 oxen and 1000 lambs, to be procured by John
Ry croft, Serjeant of the Larder," in various counties
of England, to be sent over to Calais ; and another
order to the same for fodder for the King's horses.
Our most valuable information, however, on
this topic, as on so many others, comes from the
Venetian archives, from which we learn that, as
early as the end of January, 25,000 oxen had
then already been slaughtered and salted for
the Army. This demand, the Venetian writer
tells us, together with similar large absorptions of
stock for the two services, had caused the price of
meat to be more than doubled ; while bread too had
risen a good deal ; both increases being, indeed,
natural enough, with Wolsey constantly in the
market to satisfy the huge requirements of the
8o England's First Great War Minister
King's forces — which he was determined to meet
without stint. Victuallers, or "wafters" as they
were termed, brought food almost every day, during
the campaign, into Calais, either coastwise from the
ports of Flanders, or, when the winds were fair,
from the home ports.
No English army, indeed, which has ever left
these shores for the continent of Europe has been
so well and punctually provisioned as that organized
by Wolsey in 1513; always excepting the most
famous, the most heroic of them all — the never-to-
be-forgotten original force under Sir John French
in 1914. And it was not only the regularity and
certainty of the delivery of the food — and the beer
— to the troops at the front, which made for content-
ment among officers and men, and so became an
important factor in the success of the campaign ;
but likewise its plentifulness and excellence too.
So much so, that after the Army had been fully
four months in Picardy and Flanders, Brian Tuke,
then Clerk of the Signet, and afterwards Secretary
to the King, was able to announce to a friend of his
in Rome, Richard Pace, afterwards one of Wolsey's
most trusted agents : " Such was the plenty of pro-
visions that 40,000 men were living in the camp
before Tournay in time of war, far more cheaply
than they lived at home in time of peace."
Victualling and Various Requirements 81
When, therefore, the Emperor Maximilian, who
thought himself a very " War Lord" (and he had
certainly taken part in a good deal of fighting, though
mostly not very fortunate for him) wrote out of his
superior knowledge and experience to Henry VIIIr
cautioning him, in a rather patronizing tone, about
the immense importance of the systematic provision-
ing of an army invading a hostile country, his counsel
had already been anticipated, many months before,
by the King's own minister — an obscure priest, whom
he probably had not even heard of.
The same regularity, we may note here, was
also observed throughout Wolsey's administration
in paying the officers and men their wages — sailors
as well as soldiers — in striking contrast to the state
of things that prevailed in both services, and espe-
cially in the Navy, for several centuries after.
Important, however, as were ample and punctual
pay and good and punctual victualling, they formed
only part of the many varied needs of a mobilized
army, to which Wolsey had to devote his unre-
mitting attention — horses, for instance, waggons
and tents.
Cavalry horses had generally to be provided by
the feudal lords for themselves and their retinues ;
and how efficiently they did this was shown more than
once during the campaign, by the Northern Horse-
G
82 England's First Great War Minister
men, or " Northumberland Men," "on light geld-
ings," so famous in the forays of the Scottish border.
They wore defensive armour back and front and
an iron cap — like the present " pudding basin "
— and carried lance and buckler, and sometimes
a bow.
Even more effective was the ubiquitous flying
column of some 800 redoubtable Welshmen, under
the command of their dashing leader, Sir Rhys ap
Thomas, who rendered very gallant and most
important services in rounding up the French in
Picardy.
Draught horses, on the other hand, for gun car-
riages, ammunition waggons and carts for general
transport, were found by the Crown ; and were
shipped over in large numbers to Calais. These
were supplemented by horses purchased by the
King's agents in Flanders, which were exactly suited
for heavy traction work — strong, tireless, toiling, but
clumsy, coarse and ugly brutes. It must have been a
not very agreeable reminiscence of these, as seen in
the campaign, by King Henry — whose taste in horse-
flesh lay in the direction of refined, high-bred,
beautiful animals — which made him afterwards liken
the German " haus-frau," Anne of Cleves, as he
turned away from her in disgust, to "a great
Flanders mare."
Victualling and Various Requirements 83
Other requirements of the Army, hardly less
important, in their way, than horses, were tents, the
want of which had been one of the main causes of
the disastrous issue of the expedition, to St. Sebas-
tian's Bay. Tents, therefore, Wolsey was deter-
mined there should be in plenty — tents of a
simple kind for ordinary purposes, and tents of
a more elaborate make — " pavilions " as they
were generally called — for the use of the King,
his ministers, and his staff. Naturally, when
Wolsey first took control the available supply of
these fell far short, by hundreds, if not thousands,
of the needs of the vastly expanded army then to
be provided for.
Fortunately, however, in this case, there was
a department already in existence — that of the
" King's Tents, Toils and Pavilions" — which was at
once set hard at work, doing up and mending old
tents, and making new ones — in stripes of white and
green for the captains and their retinues — and new
and more splendid pavilions than had ever been
seen before for the King.
The original accounts for these works happen to
be preserved, and afford us curious glimpses of the
" great and goodlie pavilions " of cloth of gold, with
their poles surmounted by the " Kinges Beastes,
as the Lion, Dragon, Greyhound, Antelope," bear-
G 2
84 England's First Great War Minister
ing gilt vanes ; and the splendid interiors, some
of them hung with " blue water-work," or " blue and
crimson damask," others lined with "blue velvet or
with purple silk " ; others again " painted full of
the rising sun." All these were afterwards pitched,
in all their glittering splendour, beneath the walls
of Th6rouanne and Tournay.
Each of the great pavilions had its name, like
a ship, appropriate to the heraldic device it bore, or
to the person who occupied it ; such as " The Fleur-
de-Lys " ; " The Red Rose " ; " The Two Crowns";
" The Wheat Ear — a lodging for the Master of the
King's Horses " ; " The Chalice — a lodging for
Chaplains to sing mass in " ; " The Gauntlet — a
lodging for the Office and Master of the Armoury."
Sometimes the " Yeoman of the Tents " indulged
in a little playful irony in the names he gave them,
calling the " lodging for stranger ambassadors "
the "Yellow Face" ; and the "lodging for one of
the King's Council " — with a dig at some irascible
member of the Cabinet — " The Inflamed House."
Purchases of material for such pavilions as these
and for the standard type of tent used by the army
in general, were, naturally, enormous, tens of
thousands of ells of canvas being entered in the
old accounts ; and likewise many thousands of " blue
buckram for garnishing the tents," and " Brussels
Victualling and Various Requirements 85
sage," and other stuffs, with fringes and ribbons,
"leather brickets," and other embellishments.
The King, of course, had a whole suite of his
own — his " greate chamber " being 50 feet long, and
several others nearly as big ; and all richly decorated
and furnished, so that even on the field of battle
Henry's surroundings were to be not only comfort-
able, but even luxurious and splendid.
The external appearance of these gorgeous
pavilions of the King's, with the tents of the rest
of the Army clustered around them, may be seen
in the pictures painted for Henry VIII, now at
Hampton Court, of " The Meeting of King Henry
and the Emperor Maximilian before Therouanne " ;
of " The Battle of Spurs," and also of " The Field
of the Cloth of Gold."
How fully the deficiency of tents was eventually
made good is proved by the fact that just before the
last division of the Army crossed the Straits, it was
encamped in the outskirts of London to the number
of 15,000 men, all under canvas ; while the two other
divisions then already in France, one before
Therouanne and the other just outside the walls
of Calais, were likewise under canvas.
Other necessaries of war with which King
Henry's Army was supplied by Wolsey need not be
particularized here : except one, which it may be
86 England's First Great War Minister
interesting to record. Among the things ordered
for the equipment of the artillery, to be used in the
trenches in the siege of the French fortresses, were
" Spien (Spying) Trestles " — evidently a sort of
Periscope.
So much for Wolsey's work as War Minister in
respect of Tents as well as of Victualling and
Horses.
CHAPTER VIII.
SANITATION AND SURGEONS, AND " THE LAW
OF ARMS."
Wolsey's Interest in Sanitation — His Precautions against Infection
— His Interest in the Medical Art — King Henry's Babblings in Drugs
— His Own Physicians — Surgeons for the Army — Their Wages— Their
Remedies — Boiling Oil for Wounds — The " Barber-Surgeons " — Suc-
cess of Wolsey's Methods and Precautions — Army Surgeons Exempted
from bearing Arms — Chivalrous Warfare — "The Law of Arms" — The
" Statutes of War " 'printed — One Extant Copy — Its Great Curiosity
— Its Interesting History — Injunctions against Pillage and Arson —
Copies for all Officers — Wolsey arranges for the King's Comfort —
Good Wines for His Grace — Colour of the Satin for his Doublet —
Wolsey's Regard for Etiquette — The right Stuff for his own Cassocks.
ITT HE RE still remained a few other lesser de-
partments in the organization of the King's
Army for active service, which, as they came under
Wolsey's own direct supervision, may be briefly
noticed here.
One was the sanitary and medical corps, which,
we can well understand, Wolsey took special con-
trol of, considering the interest he always took in
such matters. This is proved, as far as sanitation
is concerned, by the elaborate system of scientific
drainage he established in all the buildings erected
88 England's First Great War Minister
by him ; by his determination to procure for them
a supply of the purest drinking water obtainable ;
by his insistence on precautions against infection ;
and by his stringent regulations for scavengering,
and his rigorous enforcement of cleanliness, both in
his own and the Royal household. The mainten-
ance of a high standard of health in the King's
Army, therefore, must certainly have been one of
his most constant pre-occupations.
How incessantly and insistently present to his
mind was the imperative need of safeguarding it
against that terrible scourge of all armies, particularly
in olden days — epidemic disease — is shown by a
note of his in the already cited " List of Things to
be remembered," which he drew up in an early stage
of his war preparations — " To remember the Sick-
ness that is at Brest" — a fact not without its influence,
we suspect, on the plan of the campaign subse-
quently decided on.
It is, indeed, highly probable — though no docu-
mentary evidence exists to prove it — that Wolsey,
with his keen appreciation of such considerations,
laid down rules of sanitation to be observed by the
Army when in the field. It is quite likely, too, that
his anxiety about providing not only good wine for
the King and the leaders, but also good beer for the
rank and file, was caused not solely for their content-
Sanitation and Surgeons 89
merit, but even more for assuring their good health,
by checking the desire to drink the tainted water in
the villages and farms, or by the roadside, when the
troops were encamped or on the march.
In any measures, at any rate, which Wolsey may
have seen fit to take, we can be sure that he received
the hearty support of the King, who was himself not
less alive to the perils of infection than his minister.
As to the practice of the medical and healing
arts : Wolsey's interest in them is also well known ;
and here too his wise lead was followed by the King.
Henry, indeed, at all times much patronized the
doctors — like most monarchs and very wealthy
people, who seem to think they ought to be able to
buy health, as they can all other things, and so
stave off death ; and, consequently, always have an
inordinate respect for — almost a pitiful cringing to —
any of them who profess, vociferously enough, that
they are able to sell them the one, and to keep back
the other.
Henry was even fond of dabbling in the medical
arts himself, inventing strange compounds of drugs
for all manner of ailments, and often making up with
his own hand pills, powders and purges, queer electu-
aries and ointments, and wonderful prophylactics,
which he tried, with Tudor imperativeness, on those
submissive patients of his — his ministers and friends
90 England's First Great War Minister
— especially, we may be sure when he and they were
on active service.
At the same time, of course, his own favourite
physicians — at this time Dr. Chambre, Dr. Butt's
predecessor, and one John Westall — accompanied him
abroad. To Westall a payment of £& los. 6d.
" towards his lechecraft and his wages," is entered,
in a document that survives to us, as having been
made in the year of the war ; and there was also
one Robert Symson, surgeon, who got £6 13^. ^d.
for "healing certain men hurt on the sea" — a
suggestion of payment according to results, which
is certainly rather pleasing.
The number of physicians and surgeons who
were attached to the Army were, however, few —
viewed in the light of modern practice — not more
than eighty or ninety all told. But they had assist-
ants ; and no doubt voluntary aid was usually forth-
coming, some of it skilled ; while for the rougher
work of sanitation and cleaning there were always
the scullions and yeomen servitors assigned to each
division.
Small, however, as was the medical staff attached
to Henry's Army, it was, as a fact, much greater, in
proportion, than any that had ever before accom-
panied an English Sovereign and English troops
abroad. Yet, notwithstanding the increased con-
Sanitation and Surgeons 91
sideration in which the profession was evidently
coming to be held by Wolsey and the King, the
wages of ordinary surgeons on active service were
very low — only 8^/. a day — the same as were paid
to archers or yeomen carters, and less than was
paid to skilled artizans.
At the same time, it is probable that this very
small payment was regarded rather as a sort of
retaining fee from the King, than as an adequate
remuneration for general surgical or medical attend-
ance on all who might require it. Certainly, in
Queen Elizabeth's time, and, it would seem, also,
already in King Henry's, it was laid down that
" every soldier at paye-daye (once a week ?), do
give the surgeon 2^." — a sort of insurance contribu-
tion in fact — " as in times past hath been accustomed,
to the augmentation of his wages ; in consideration
whereof, the surgeon oughte readilie to employ his
industrie uppon the soare and wounded soldiers."
We may be sure, also, that well-to-do sufferers
would give the surgeon who attended them what
is now designated, in the grandiloquent language
of the more lofty members of the profession, by the
elaborate latinism an " honorarium " ; but which can
be much better and more simply expressed by the
plain English words a fee — or a tip.
As to the methods of healing used by the Army
92 England's First Great War Minister
Surgeons at that time : washing and bandaging
were rightly enough employed for spear, arrow or
pike wounds. But when one reads of cauterizing
and pouring in boiling oil as the recognized treat-
ment for gun-shot wounds, one feels sure that many
a soldier must have thought the remedy a much
worse infliction than the injury ; and have been
thankful that the number of surgeons was as limited
as it was. The profession of a surgeon, it must
always be remembered, was in those days usually
practised by men, who carried on in conjunction with
it the business of a barber — whence the famous
" Company of Barber-Surgeons " to whom Henry
VIII granted a charter, commemorated in the well-
known picture partly painted by Holbein, which
is still in the company's hall in the City of London,
and in which may be seen portraits of some of those
who attended the King in Picardy and Flanders in
151 3 — notably of Dr. Chambr6, though by no means
worthy of the master.
We can understand, therefore, that an ordinary
" barber-surgeon " may likely enough have thought
that his " incomparable lotion for promoting the
growth of the hair" on a bald head would prove
equally effective for promoting the growth of the
flesh in a raw wound — a sufficient reason for the
caution imposed on him by the military authorities
Sanitation and Surgeons 93
that when ''employing his Industrie upon wounded
soldiers " he was not to " intermedle with any other
cures to them noysome."
But however efficacious, or inefficacious, may
have been the remedies and treatments of the
surgeons of King Henry's Army in dealing with
sick and wounded soldiers, certain is it, that the
precautions taken against disease and sickness under
the direction of Wolsey were so successful, that
towards the end of the campaign, when the English
Army had been nearly four months in the field,
Brian Tuke was able to report, in the letter already
quoted, that " no epidemic of any sort assailed so
numerous an army"-— a thing almost unprecedented
in those days.
After the Army returned to England, it was
thought well, from the experience gained, to make
the status of the " Barber-Surgeons " — as they con-
tinued to be termed for many a long year — more
definite, though not, perhaps, exactly better, by
passing an act, as soon as Parliament met, exempting
them " from serving as constables, or in any office
requiring the bearing of arms, they being unharnessed
(unarmoured and unarmed) in the field, according to
the Law of Arms."
Further, it may be added that the surgeons were
enjoined to wear over their shoulders or across their
94 England's First Great War Minister
breasts, a belt or "baldrick, whereby they may be
knowen in tyme of slaughter : it is their charter in
the field."
Noting the words just cited " according to the
Law of Arms," we are reminded that the rules of
war and battle in that Age of Chivalry — for it had
then not yet passed away — that Age and that
Chivalry so much scoffed at and derided by certain
superior persons of utilitarian views in modern times,
and by none more than the Teutonic professor — had
long ago anticipated, and, moreover, largely suc-
ceeded in enforcing the observance of (at least
among the soldiers of France, England, Italy and
Spain) those humane conventions of civilized war-
fare, which all the pundits of International Law,
with their Geneva and Hague Congresses, have
.always entirely failed to impose upon the ever-brutal
Prussian.
No need, therefore, to do more here than simply
record the fact that in the campaign of 1513 the
English Army, inspired as it was by Henry's lofty
ideas of chivalry, and the French Army, equally
inspired by the noble precept and the still more
noble example of that Knight " sans peur et sans
reproche," the Chevalier Bayard, both scrupulously
observed in their fighting that " Law of Arms "
which mediaeval Christian chivalry enjoined.
" The Law of Arms " 95
That Henry's chivalry was no empty protesta-
tion is proved by the fact that after the surrender of
TheVouanne, " he yet remained in his camp several
days, according to this Law of Arms : that in case
any man should bid battle for the besieging and
getting of any city or town, then the winner to give
battle and abide for certain days."
It was probably Henry's keen desire that the
laws of chivalry should be obeyed in the most
absolute degree, which made Wolsey, with his usual
thoughtful thoroughness, provide a sort of thing
which had never been provided for an English or
any other Army before. This was the issue of 1600
copies of " The Statutes of War," printed and
bound by the King's printer, Richard Pynson, a
pupil of Caxton's, at the cost of £16 i$s. 4^.,
comparable, say, to about ^300 in • the present
day.
Strange to say, considering the large number of
copies issued of these " Statutes of War," no refer-
ence to them is to be found in any of the standard
works on early printed books in England ; nor in
any work on military history or military law. Yet
one copy — apparently unique — still exists at Loseley,
among the famous, ancient, documentary treasures
stored in that beautiful old house ; and a description
of it, with an abstract of its contents, is to be
g6 England's First Great War Minister
read in Kempe's " Loseley Manuscripts " published
in 1837.
Nevertheless, this rare and curious publication
has escaped the notice of black-letter fanciers all
these eighty years ; owing, probably, to the acci-
dental omission of the article describing it from the
" Table of Contents " in Kempe's book. What we
have cited from the war accounts in the Record
Office relating to its printing and binding should
invest it now with a new value and interest.
The copy in question doubtless belonged origin-
ally to Robert Cawarden or Garden, a petty captain
under Sir Lewis Bagot, in the Vanguard of the
Army of 1513, and the father of Sir Thomas Garden,
a gentleman of the King's Privy Chamber in the
latter part of Henry VIII's reign, " Keeper of the
King's Halls, Tents, Toils and Pavilions " and
" Master of the Revels " as well.
There is a romance even of old books — at least
to the bibliophile — and it may be not uninteresting
to some to think of this rare black-letter pamphlet
— for it consists of only a few quarto sheets — going
with its owner, Captain Carden, in the campaign of
1513, first to Calais; then on to Therouanne ; next
along the river Lys to Aire ; thence by Lillers,
B6thune, Guinchy and La Bassee to Carvin and
S^clin, and so to Tournay ; thence back by
" The Law of Arms" 97
Quesnoy-sur-Deule, Ypres, Dixmude, Furnes to
Dunkirk and Calais, and so again to England.
Eventually it passed, with the rest of Sir Thomas
Garden's valuable collection of papers, relating to
the offices he held, which he kept in his castle of
Bletchingley, to his neighbour, friend and executor,
Sir William More, the builder of Loseley, in whose
home it found a resting-place for 350 years ; and in
the possession of whose family it still remains to
this day.
And even to this day, many of the "Statutes"
set down therein are as applicable to the English
Army in Flanders in 1916, as they were to the
English Army in Flanders in 1513. In effect they
were the germ and origin of our modern " Articles
of War " ; being ordered to be read twice, or at
least once a week, on parade, before each regiment
or "retinue"; and enforced by severe, but by no
means unduly harsh, penalties.
The more interesting of the " ordinances " are
the following : General obedience to the King and
his Officers enjoined on pain of death ; while " Un-
lawful Assemblies and Conventicles," and " Murmurs
or Grudges against the King or the Officers of his
Host," are strictly forbidden under severe penalties.
Everyone, except he be a Bishop, is to bear a Cross
of St. George, " suffysaunt and large." Then follow
H
98 England's First Great War Minister
stern injunctions against such acts of unknightly war-
fare as sacrilege, robbery, pillage, violence towards
the inhabitants of the invaded country, firing of
houses, etc. — all of which are offences punishable
with death. There is further a special ordinance
against entering a house in which a woman is lying
in child-bed, which is likewise punishable with the
extreme penalty.
Several other ordinances aim at the maintenance
of good order and good conduct in the camp : for
instance, against wasting of victuals, though " a
man may take as much as him needeth " — even of
beer or wine ; and against dicing, card-playing, and
other games of chance. Finally, " no man is to
give reproach to another, because of the country he
is of, that is to say, English, Northern, Welsh or
Irish."
These and other similar regulations are intro
duced by a preamble setting forth the King's intention
of passing over the sea " in his owne persone with
an Armye and Hoste Roy all for repressynge the
great Tyranny e of the Frenche Kynge " ; and
explaining the need of such statutes of war " t' order
his Folkes of the war in Justice by ye Mynysters of
ye Lawe."
The title-page of the pamphlet is a typographical
curiosity, with an elaborate heading and quaint
" T/ie Law of Arms" 99
heraldic embellishments of the arms, badges and
4t Knyges Beastes " of Henry and his allies.
From the number printed it is evident that every
officer in the Army must have been furnished with a
copy for his own use, so that there should be no excuse
for any of them being ignorant of the military code.
All this careful prevision and preparation on
Wolsey's part shows that with him as organizer of
war, everything was provided for ; every contingency
foreseen ; every risk guarded against.
And all the while there were the many little,
trifling things, which might affect the personal
comfort or convenience of the King in the coming
campaign, which he took into his own special charge
and which had to be thought out and attended to —
arrangements, for instance, in regard to the affairs of
the Royal household, and such like. Of these one
or two examples will suffice. " Coffers, cases and
linen cloth," had to be ordered, " for the King's
jewels and plate to go over the sea."
Then we find him two or three months before
King Henry crossed the Channel to Calais, giving
special instructions to the King's Deputy or Governor,
Sir Gilbert Talbot, to have a tun of a certain wine
ready against the King's coming at the house where
he is to lodge ; and he selects the shade of the
colour of the satin for the King's doublet.
H 2
ioo England's First Great War Minister
Again, there were matters also, specially concern-
ing himself, which he had to look after. Thus in
another letter he asks the deputy to be good enough
to procure him " some French black for his own
wearing " —doubtless for his cassocks — so that when
he appears by the King's side at Calais or on French
soil he may be habited in the particular material
there considered appropriate to his office of " King's
Almoner "- —just as later in his career he sends to
Rome for a pattern of the exact texture and shade of
red of the cloth worn by the cardinals in the Eternal
City — so alive was he always to the importance of
trifles of etiquette and custom in international social
relations. Needless to say, Sir Gilbert Talbot sends
off at once to St. Omer and Bruges and gets him
the exact stuff, something "fine and good," he is
seeking, and sends it to him within a week.
Nothing, indeed, escapes him ; nothing is over-
looked or neglected ; nothing is too small or trivial,
as nothing is too wide nor too great, not to come
within his all-searching scrutiny and his all-providing
foresight.
101
CHAPTER IX.
THE FLEET AT SEA VICTUALLING TROUBLES.
Rigging out the Ships for Fighting — The King Inspects His Fleet
—Lord Admiral Howard puts to Sea — His Own Squadron— The Full
Fleet — Its Fighting Force — Howard's Cheery Letters — " Never such a
Fleet Seen " — The Sailing of the Great Ships— Their Names, Tonnage,
Armament — Officers and Complement of Men — Soldiers Aboard —
Names of Old County Families — The Same To-day on Land and
Sea — Wages of Officers and Men — Shortage of Victuals— Soldiers'
and Sailors' Graves — Difficulties of Transport — Food Depending on
Wind — Men insist on Beer and Beef — Few Purveyors or Warehouses
— Urgency of the Problem — Wolsey grapples with It.
'ZX'S the spring advanced the hum of eager
^^ preparation for the coming campaign re-
sounded louder and louder throughout England,
and especially around the seaports on the southern
coast.
For it was there that the work then of most
immediate importance was being carried on — the
rigging out of the Fleet for active service — for which
Wolsey had been busy preparing all the winter,
hurrying on the building of the new ships, and
completing their armament and outfit ; and next
marshalling a force of soldiers to be put on board
IO2 England's First Great War Minister
them. This force, by a well-recognized exercise of
sea -power, was to be used to threaten a landing
somewhere along the northern coasts of France,
either in Brittany, Normandy or Picardy, and
thereby to keep the French in perpetual uncertainty
as to where they ought to place their main army
of defence.
In the middle of March, Henry went to inspect
the Fleet in Southampton Water. Although we have
no account of what happened on this occasion, we may
be sure that the King did what he had done on a
similar visit to his Fleet the year before, when " he
made a great banquet to all the captains, and every-
one swore to another ever to defend, aid, and com-
fort one another without failing, and this they
promised before the King, which committed them to
God, and so with great noise of minstrelsy " — and
we may be sure with other tokens of conviviality
also — " they took their ships."
"To see the lords and gentlemen," adds the
chronicler, "so well armed and so richly apparelled
in cloths of gold, and of silver, and velvets of sundry
colours, pounced and embroidered, and all petty
captains in satin and damask, of white and green "-
the King's colours — "and yeomen in cloth of the
same colours ; and the banners, pennons, standards,
and gittons, fresh and newly painted, with sundry
The Fleet at Sea — Victualling Troubles 103
beasts and devices, it was a pleasure to behold.
And when Sir William Sandys, Knight, appointed
Treasurer for the Wars, had paid all the wages,
then every man was commanded to his ship. Then
you should have seen binding of mails and fardels,
trussing of coffers and trussers, that no man was
idle." '
A few days after this inspection by the King
the first portion of the expedition put to sea. This,
the Lord Admiral's own squadron, consisted of 24
ships of a total tonnage of 8,460, carrying innu-
merable guns of all kinds of calibre, and 2,880 sea-
men and 4,600 soldiers, under the command of the
Lord Admiral Sir Edward Howard (second son of
the Earl of Surrey, the victor of Flodden, who
was afterwards Duke of Norfolk).
These ships, with the sailors they were manned
by and the soldiers they were freighted with, have
usually been referred to, as though they alone com-
posed all the force under Howard in the spring of
1513. Even Brewer writes as if these 24 ships
were nothing less than the whole " English Navy"
at that time. This is a mistake. The " Navy
Lists " of that year, and other original documents,
prove the contrary ; for they give the names of
many other line-of-battle ships and smaller craft
also, setting out their tonnage, their armament, the
IO4 England's First Great War Minister
names of their officers, and the numbers of their
crews. In truth, Henry VII Fs full Channel Fleet
must have been, in the mere number of vessels be-
longing to it, quite three times as big as the Lord
Admiral's own squadron ; while in weight of gun
metal, and effective strength of fighting men, soldiers
as well as sailors, it must have been at least twice as
powerful.
The best information on this topic is, as usual,
to be found among the reports of Venetians then
resident in London — in one of the letters of the
merchant Bavarin to his firm. " In Holy Week," he
wrote, "69 ships quitted the Port of London ; and
at Southampton there are ten other ships which the
69 have joined, making a total of 80 ships." He
goes on to note an interesting novelty in naval con-
struction. " The English," he says, " have also
some long and low vessels like galleys, worked by
a great number of oars, which all the Biscayan
mariners in England consider better men-of-war for
the Channel than galleys. Besides a double com-
plement of sailors to work the ships, there is a body
of 16,000 picked soldiers."
The full fighting element of Howard's fleet must,
consequently, have reached some 20,000 to 25,000
men ; and its appearance with its 80 sail on the
western horizon must have caused no little emotion
The Fleet at Sea — Victualling Troubles 105
in the ports and harbours of the northern seaboard
of France.
Of its manoeuvrings in the Channel, and its
operations off the coasts of Normandy and Brittany,
so interesting an account is afforded us in Sir Edward
Howard's letters, as to make them well worth reading
in full. There is a freshness, a cheeriness, and a
vigour of thought and expression about them, which
admirably reflect the spirit of the bold seaman and
gallant officer and gentleman he was soon to prove
himself to be ; and which give us the first example
in our sea-history of that fine spirit of lofty pride in
the Fleet under his command which has ever since
been the mark of every great captain of England's
Navy.
And, indeed, there can be no doubt that never
before had an English Sovereign set eyes on such
magnificent ships as floated forth before the breeze
from Southampton Water, through the Solent, and
out into the western Channel on that March morn-
ing of 1513. " Never," wrote Spinelly, Henry's
Ambassador at Brussels at the Court of Margueret
Duchess of Savoy, to Cardinal Bainbridge, the
King s envoy in Rome, ''Never was such a fleet seen.
They are daily expecting to hear some happy news
of it." And Admiral Howard himself, in his report
to the King in obedience to " his command to send
io6 England's First Great War Minister
him word how every ship did sail " — which he did
with great minuteness, though unfortunately most of
what he wrote about them is lost to us, from the
manuscript being decayed — declares enthusiasti-
cally, "Such a fleet was never seen before in
Christendom."
Some of the ships that formed part of that
Tudor prototype of the " Grand Fleet" of to-day,
have become famous in naval history. " The Mary
Rose," for example, the Admiral's flag-ship of 600
tons, with 200 soldiers and 200 mariners ; " The
Gabriel Royal," of 800 tons, with the Bishop of
Exeter on board with his " retinue" of 100 soldiers,
also Lords Arundel and Stourton, each with his
"retinue" of 100 men and 50 men respectively,
besides the ship's two captains with their " retinue "
of 100 men, and then 250 mariners — a complement
altogether of 600 fighting men ; " The Great
Galley," of 700 tons, with 200 pieces of artillery,
great and small, 1 20 oars, and a full complement of
800 to 1,000 men ; " The Henry Imperial," of 1,000
tons, Sir William Trevenyan, Captain, " with his
own retinue of 400," and 300 mariners ; and " The
Sovereign," or " Trinitye Sovereign" (Henry VIII
as three-fold King of England, France and Ireland),
with Lord Ferrers — brother of the Marquis of
Dorset and a very gallant seaman — as captain with
The Fleet at Sea — Victualling Troubles 107
his 200 men, Lord Devon with 200 men, besides
300 manners. Of this ship, Admiral Howard, in
one of his letters to King Henry, says : — " Sir, sche
is the noblest shipp of sayle is this great shipp at
this hower, that I trow be in Christendom.'*
As to the still more famous ship the " Henry
Grace-de-Dieu " — or "Great Harry," as she was
popularly called — of 1,500 tons, though already in
the "Navy List" of the spring of 1513, and ap-
parently commissioned, with officers appointed to
her, and her complement of 907 men fixed, yet she
was still in dock and not launched until several
months after, and not " hallowed," to use the old
and much more appropriate word than " christened,*'
until upwards of a year later — " hallowed " with a
religious service, instead of being " christened " with
a bottle of champagne.
In the numerous records relating to the Navy,
as well as in those relating to the Army, it is in-
teresting to observe how most of the names of the
captains and leaders in Henry VIII's forces are of
the same old county families, which, during the
400 years intervening between then and now, have
always lavishly given their best and dearest for
England's sake in every part of the world.
They are the names of many of those who, with
worthy comrades of every grade and from every
io8 England's First Great War Minister
quarter of the King's dominions, during the last
two years, have laid down their lives for their
country in the trenches and fields of Flanders ;
the cliffs and ravines of the Dardanelles ; the
swamps and scorching plains of Mesopotamia.
They are the names of many of those who, with
like noble comrades, sleep their long sleep en-
tombed in the deep ooze beneath the far-down
waters, dim and still, of every ocean and of every
sea ; while above them the ever-sounding billows
shall to all time proclaim their deathless honour, their
unmatched renown. Here are some of the names :
Aston, Astley, Ashley, Berkeley. Broke, Bagot
Berkeley, Cavendish, Compton, Conway, Cheyney,
Corbett, Chetwynd, Courtenay, Craddock, Capel,
Curzon, Clifford, Dacre, Digby, Egerton, Eyre,
Fortescue, Ferrers, Fairfax, Foljambe, FitzWilliam,
Gresley, Greville, Howard, Harcourt, Herbert,
Hussey, Jerningham, Lovell, Lyttleton, Mainwaring,
Neville, Phelips, Paulet, Pole, Radcliffe, Russell,
Seymour, Stanley, Sidney, Sandys, Southwell,
Shelley, St. Leger, Strangways, Tempest, Tyrwitt,
Throgmorton, Vaux, Wyatt, Wombwell, Wortley,
Wyndham, Wingfield, Wallop, Willoughby, Zouche.
These are some of the names found in Wolsey's
lists of the naval and military officers engaged in
Henry VII I's expedition to France in 1513. And
The Fleet at Sea — Victualling Troubles 109
if there were records of the names of the rank and
file we may be very sure that among them would
stand out those of that sturdy breed of farmer and
yeoman who, fixed on the soil of England for a
thousand years, have always proved their patriotism
in the hour of their country's need.
It may interest some to learn what pay was
received by the officers and men. " The wages for
my Lord Ferrers," Captain of " The Trinitye
Sovereign," were 55. 2d. a day. " Under captains,
I2d. a day; petty captains, 8d." But Ferrers for
his great gallantry afterwards received a special
grant from the King, " in reward £4.0." Soldiers,
mariners, and others, received 55. per month, " with
deed shares and rewards ; " master gunners, 55. ;
masters, 2s. 6d. ; gunners, 2od. ; while " Master
Surgeons " received 135. 4d. a month; and other
surgeons, IDS.
A though Howard was in no anxiety for the
seaworthiness or sailing capabilities of any of the
ships of the King's " Fleet Royal " under his
command ; nor for the fighting fitness of the guns
that armed them ; of the crews that manned them ;
nor of the soldiers that were aboard them, he was, as
he indicated in his letters to Henry, in very great
fear of a shortage of victuals, and he informed His
Majesty that he had written to " Master Amener "
1 10 England's First Great War Minister
most urgently on the subject. He adds : — " Sir,
for God's sake haste your council to send us down
our victuals, for if we shall lie long the common
voice will run that we lie and keep in the Downs
and do no good, but spend money and victual.
And so the noise will run to our shame ; though
your Grace knows well that we cannot otherwise do,
without we should leave our victual and fellows
behind."
The letter to Wolsey referred to herein is lost ;
but another is extant, written to him a fortnight
later from " Plymouth Road," in which Howard
complains grievously that " the victuals are bad and
scanty, and will not serve beyond fifteen days," and
he entreats the Almoner " for God's sake, to make
provision of biscuits and beer, that he may not be
compelled to go into the Downs, and the French
escape."
Indeed, it is very evident that in those days
naval and military operations were continually being
seriously hampered by difficulties of commissariat
which we, in our time, have no idea of; due partly
to deficiencies of transport both by sea and land,
causing constant delays in the delivery of supplies ;
and due not less — when lighters and barges, or
" foists " and " hoys " as they were called, were
plentiful — to the way they were always liable to
The Fleet at Sea — Victualling Troubles 1 1 r
be interfered with or endangered by storm and
adverse winds and similar hazards.
On the wind, especially, depended almost en-
tirely the chance of procuring any food at all by
the fleet for the soldiers as well as for the sailors
— winds not only to waft the victualling boats to
Plymouth and other western ports, or out to the
ships in mid-channel ; but often winds also to drive
the mills, to grind the wheat, to make the flour, to
bake the bread. This was in the very nature of the
circumstances, and could not have been avoided.
The hindrance due to want of wind ashore
applied especially to Calais, which, of course, was
always the miltary base for any hostile operations
against France, and where there were several
private bakehouses, besides the King's great bake-
house— entirely dependent on the windmills in the
surrounding country of the English pale, to enable
them to cope with the excessive demands for bread
and biscuits for the King's forces concentrated in
the town or operating in the field near by.
As to the beer, even after it was brewed,
frequent delays occurred in its delivery to the ships,
owing to want of casks and barrels in which to
convey and store it on board : and all the time
there were those sturdy, pertinacious fellows, the
English sailors and soldiers, clamorously demand-
1 1 2 England's First Great War Minister
ing the war-ration allowed to each of them — at this
period no less than a gallon a day — and steadily
refusing to be fobbed off with such swipes for weak-
lings as washy, "small-creature Rhenishe wyne."
These were some of the perplexities that
troubled the naval and military authorities in early
Tudor times, owing to the rarity of well-stocked
open markets, where bread, biscuits, and beer could
easily and quickly be procured. Not, of course,
that there were not many private dealers in such
staple commodities from whom they might be
bought by the Government. But there being, in
ordinary times of peace, no demand beyond a certain
average quantum, there was very little margin avail-
able for unexpected emergencies, and nothing like
anything substantial in the way of stores in reserve.
The same remark applies, though in a lesser
degree, both to salt fish, and also, particularly, to
salt beef, of which each man's ration was a pound
a day, and " without which," says Brewer, "no
English sailor could be made amenable to discipline."
Neither of these articles could be purchased off-
hand for the asking, and in no case could they be
hastily procured, nor when procured, could they be
transported except by the slow conveyance of those
times.
Moreover, the number of storehouses for such
The Fleet at Sea — Victualling Troubles 1 1 3
perishable stuff, whether belonging to the Crown or
to private individuals, were of the scantiest, even in
great ports like Southampton, Portsmouth, or Ply-
mouth ; and not of the size or capacity to supply
the needs of the large number of men then being
embarked.
All these adverse factors became still more serious
when the great galleys were crowded to their utmost
capacity by carrying troops, rendering it often not
more dangerous to keep them at sea, than it was
risky to disembark them — even back again in English
sea-ports, where provisions might be as difficult to
obtain as on the enemy's shores.
Even when the war-ships were not laden with
troops, they might be kept tossing about for days
together without being able to reach a friendly
harbour or a safe anchorage in some sheltered bay,
their scanty supplies of food and water steadily
running out all the time.
The fact is, though Henry VIII "had got ^he
ships, and got the men, and got the money too," he
found it very difficult to get the food ; and it was
doubtless the supreme urgency of this need — a
novel one for a country never before engaged in
so vast a naval and military enterprise overseas —
which appealed to Wolsey, and was the real reason
why he had taken over, under his special direction
i
H4 England's First Great War Minister
and control, as we have seen, the business of cater-
ing for the King's forces, and not the reason
given by Lord Herbert of Cherbury in his " Life of
Henry VIII," that "the victualling was recom-
mended to him as a sarcasm to his birth, he being
a butcher's son "- —which he really was not.
Indeed, it is evident that there was no part of
the arduous work of making ready Henry VIII's
great " Army Royal " for service on the continent
of Europe, and his magnificent " Navy Royal " for
scouring the enemy's fleet out of the Channel, which
caused the King's confidential minister such serious
perturbation of mind as this business of victualling.
But then Wolsey sought out, by a kind of
unerring instinct, those particular features of the
problem likely to reveal weakness in an expedition
across the seas, undertaken by an island power with
little recent experience of war, and with no pre-
paration for it, against a great continental military
state, always battle-ready. So the great statesmen
directed all his amazing energy and all his incom-
parable grasp of detail to grappling with what are,
in some ways, the most intricate, perplexing and
exasperating of all the many difficult problems of war.
II
CHAPTER X.
SEA-FIGHT OFF BREST — ADMIRAL HOWARD'S
HEROIC DEATH.
Howard's Determination to get at the Enemy — His Last Messages
to All — His Indomitable Spirit — Wolsey's Relations with the Admirals
— Their Respect for Him — Admiral Howard's Plan — Sighting the
Enemy—" They fled to Brest "— " They shall have Broken Heads "
— The Enemy Won't Come Out— His Resolve to " Attack them in
their Hiding Places" — Howard rushes In — Admiral's Good, Plain
English— Howard boards "Prior John's" Galley— " Come Aboard
Again" — How Brave Howard fell — His Glorious Example — His
"Bull Rushing Tactics" — The Same Spirit To-day — Momentous
Consequences.
Admiral Howard wrote Wolsey the
letter of April 5th about victualling, which
we have already quoted from on that point in our
last chapter, he tells him how he is pining for a
brush with the enemy ; how he hopes for " an
engagement within five or six days, as he hears that
a hundred sail are coming towards him," and how
he would rather be beggared of his last groat " than
not keep the western channel until he and the
enemy meet." At all hazards, he says, he is
determined to give battle to the enemy's fleet.
I 2
n6 England's First -Great War Minister
" However the matter goeth, I will make a fray
with them, if wind and weather serve."
He then begs Wolsey to " commend him to all
good ladies and gentlewomen and his fellows ; and
to his father, beseeching his blessing, and most
humbly to the King's noble Grace, as his most
bounden servant ; and to desire his Grace to trust no
tidings until he hears from his Admiral, who, if he
lives, will be the first to write."
Finally, he prays Wolsey "to knit all," that they
" may win that victory over the enemy, which to you,
my special friend, is your most heart's-desire." His
last thought is for his wife, for whom he encloses a
letter, which he asks Wolsey, in a postscript, to give
to her.
All Sir Edward Howard's letters breathe the
same indomitable spirit ; and all of them, it may be
observed by the way, like those of all commanders
of whatever grade, and of all officials of whatever
service, when addressing the future Cardinal, are
couched in a tone easy, friendly and cordial, revealing
evident trust in his zeal and energy, and confidence
in his disinterestedness, as well as in his fairness and
kindliness.
In truth, Wolsey's relations with the chiefs of the
Navy as well as of the Army, we may observe by
the way, were such that they not only often deferred
Sea- Fight off Brest 1 1 7
to his advice when he proffered it ; but sometimes
even sought it — so great was the belief in his wisdom
and sagacity in all practical matters, and so complete
the reliance on his honesty of purpose.
And considering the position of his corre-
spondents, many of whom were of the highest
nobility in the land, with his own humble origin ;
and the strong feeling, with which the intrusion of
clerics into public affairs, was always resented by
the governing laity, it is remarkable in what terms
of equality, not to say respect and even deference,
they usually wrote to him.
The Earl of Arundel, for instance, in sending a
present of venison to " his very good and entirely
well-beloved Master Almoner," thanks him heartily
" for his great kindness to him at all times." One
of Sir Edward Howard's letters to his " special
friend " we have just quoted from. And Admiral
Lord Howard, Sir Edward's elder brother, also,
when later himself in command of the Channel
Fleet, writing to Wolsey for his advice on some
point, declares : *' It is my most earnest business to
be instructed of them that can skill." The same
Admiral desired, on occasion, to shelter himself
behind Master Almoner's authority, as when he
asks for " a letter on his arrival at Southampton
enjoining no captain or seaman to go ashore."
1 1 8 England's First Great War Minister
In another letter, the same Lord Howard says,
" he had always found Wolsey so kind he could do
no less than write to him from time to time, as
never poor gentleman was in greater fear to take
rebuke than him " : and this from the man who
afterwards, when Duke of Norfolk, ceaselessly
schemed against his former friend and patron ; and
pursued him, when tottering to his fall, with the
most relentless malice and hate.
Reverting again to Sir Edward Howard : we
find him writing to the King about the middle of
March, being then at sea, and having moved out of
Plymouth Sound towards the coast of Brittany.
His plan seems to have been in the first place,
of course, to sweep the French from the Channel,
and afterwards to effect a landing " somewhere in
France " — rather as a " demonstration in force " in
connection with naval operations, than with the
intention of permanently occupying any part of the
enemy's country. Chance, which in the days of
sailing vessels had a greater influence on the course
of events even than it does now, decided where this
should be attempted. For, driven by north north-
easterly breezes, " they were fain to set in with the
Trade > and went in by the broad sound before St.
Matthew's " —Point de St. Matheu, by Le Conquet,
the extreme western point of the headland on the
Sea- Fight off Brest 1 1 9
northern side of the entrance to Brest Roads—
" where lay fifteen sail of the French line, who fled
to Brest," wrote Howard to the King, " as soon as
they espied the English."
Before the Admiral " could get as far as St.
Matthew's, the wind shifted to E.N.E. and pre-
vented our getting further than the mouth of Brest,
where we descried the fleet of France to the
number of 50 sail. Here we dropped anchor,
determining next morning, if we could have wind,
to lay it aboard. For, Sir," continued Howard,
" these ships cannot get in by the castle but at
high water and a drawing wind. Sir, the wind
has blown so at E.N.E. that we cannot as yet
come at them. Sir, we have them at the greatest
advantage ever man had. Sir, God worketh in
your cause and right ; for, upon a five or six days
since, came to the Trade Pery John " (the French
Admiral, of whom hereafter) " with his galleys and
foists, for scantiness of water at St. Malo's »,*;:.
but all their trust is vain for they shall never come
together."
What immediately follows in the manuscript is
unfortunately badly mutilated ; but further on we
can make out : " Sir, the first wind that ever cometh,
... (they shall ?) have broken heads that all the
world shall speak of it. '
I2O England's First Great War Minister
As to Howard's appeal for what was just then
the fleet's greatest need — namely, victuals — we are
glad to know that through Wolsey's determination
and energy it was satisfied just at the critical
moment.
We need not follow here the course of events,
which resulted a week or two after in a resolve —
" seeing that the navy of France would not come out,
but would always resort to the chamber of Brest "-
" to attack the French ships in their hiding-places " in
Brest harbour — an attempt in which the gallant
Howard lost his life when himself boarding the
French Admiral's flag-ship.
How this unfortunate result was brought about is
best told in the words of Captain Sir Edward
Echynham, who was present in command of a
ship, in a long despatch he wrote to Wolsey
describing the whole affair, a few days after it
happened. After referring to the " dolorous news,"
and saying how " good a master unto him " he had
always found Wolsey, and describing some small
encounters with the enemy's ships, and the measures
taken by the Admiral "to prevent the French fleet
getting out," he tells in detail what occurred on
St. Mark's Day, 25th of April.
"My Lord Admiral first appointed 6,000 men
to land between Ushant Bay and Le Conquet and
Sea-Fight off Brest 1 2 1
so come upon the rear of the French galleys;"
but espying part of the enemy's fleet already under
sail he abandoned the project, and decided on the
still bolder course " to win the French galleys with
the help of boats, the water being too shallow for
ships."
" The galleys were protected on both sides by
bulwarks planted so thick with guns and crossbows
that the quarrels " (square iron bolts shot from
crossbows) " and gun-stones " (stone cannon balls)
" came as thick as hailstones. For all this the
Admiral boarded the galley that ' Prior John ' was
in. And as soon as he was aboard of * Prior John's '
galley, he leapt out of his own galley into the fore-
castle of 'Prior John's' galley and Charran, the
Spaniard, with him and sixteen other persons."
" Prior John " (sometimes " Pery John " or
" Prester John ") was the jocose popular English
equivalent of the name of the French Admiral
Pregian de Bidoux ; and it is an early instance of
an inveterate habit of Jack Tar and Tommy Atkins
to make fun of the names of their enemies.
Not only Echyngham, but also the Lord Admiral
Howard used the nickname in his letters to the King;
and even the King's Ambassadors in their despatches
— a reminder, by the way, how such documents
were, in olden times, written in good, plain English,
122 England's First Great War Minister
full of racy phrases and amusing anecdotes, and
even chaff; not in the lifeless, Latinese diction,
which prevails in the diplomatic correspondence of
the present day, and which was forced on official
writers by early Georgian and eighteenth century
pomposity, backed up afterwards by nineteenth
century pedantry.
Fortunately, English admirals have scarcely ever
given in to this stilted style of long-winded academic
circumlocutions, and English generals only in part,
speaking and writing that simple, plain, downright,
English language — the language of our great sea-
fighters like Drake, Hawkins, Hood, Nelson — too
often patronizingly designated as " breezy " in Parlia-
ment, that home and nursery of artificial diction and
turgid insincerity.
But even had the full frankness and simplicity
of old English speech and intercourse survived to
the present day, one cannot quite fancy Admiral
Jellicoe writing to the Admiralty about " old Tirps,"
or General Haig to the War Office about " Kaiser
Bill," "Little Willie," or " the Bodies," as they
would have done had they lived in Tudor times.
"Prior John," whom Henry VIII sometimes
called " Prester John," and whom he denounced as
a " noted pirate and apostate," was certainly a very
able seaman, who had achieved wonderful successes
Sea- Fight off Brest 123
against the Turks in the Mediterranean and off the
coast of Morocco, and whose great reputation had
led the French King to seek his services, and place
the whole French navy under his supreme control.
Resuming Echyngham's narrative : "By advice
of the Admiral and Charron they had cast anchor
into the rails of the French galley, and fastened the
cable unto the capstan, that if any of the galleys
had been on fire they might have veered the cable
and fallen off. But the French did hew asunder
the cable, or else some of our mariners let it slip,
and so they left this brave man in the hands of his
enemies."
The tide was at the ebb — so we learn from Hall
the Chronicler — and in the melee nobody came to
his assistance. In exculpation of Sir Henry Shir-
borne and Sir William Sidney, captains of the
" Great Bark" and two of his chief subordinates in
command, Echyngham explained that they "boarded
' Prior John's ' galley, but being left alone, and
thinking the Admiral safe, returned."
King Henry, however, was far from being
satisfied with this explanation, and he seems to
have expressed his displeasure pretty sharply at
the Admiral's having been so badly supported. So
much so that Thomas Lord Howard, Sir Edward's
elder brother and his successor as " Lord Admiral
124 England's First Great War Minister
and Commander of the King's forces on the Sea "
(afterwards, by the way, 3rd Duke of Norfolk of
the house of Howard), evidently thought it neces-
sary to vindicate his brother's subordinates, by
warmly assuring the King that they had done all
that men in such straits could do. That this was
so we can gather pretty clearly from Echyngham's
detailed account of the affair, as told in his despatch
already quoted.
" There was a mariner," continues Echyngham,
" wounded in eighteen places, who by adventure
recovered unto the buoy of the galley, so that the
galley's boat took him up. He said he saw my
Lord Admiral thrust against the rails of ' Pryor
John's ' galley with marris pikes. Charran's boy
tells a like tale ; for when his master and the
Admiral had entered " (boarded the galley), " Charran
sent him for his hand-gun, which before he could
deliver, the one galley was gone off from the other,
and he saw my Lord Admiral waving his sword
and crying to the galleys, * Come aboard again !
Come aboard again ! ' which when my Lord saw
they could not, he took his whistle and chain from
about his neck, wrapped it together and threw it
into the sea " — in token no doubt that his command
and career were over ; and, perhaps, to prevent
their falling into the hands of the enemy.
Admiral Howard's Heroic Death 125
Next morning, to ascertain whether he was alive
or dead, the English sent a boat to the shore, with
a standard of peace, in which went three officers.
" There they met ' Prior John ' on horseback, and
enquired about his prisoners, who answered : * Sirs,
I ensure you I have no prisoners English within
any galleys of mine but one, and he is a mariner ;
but there was one that lept into my galley with a
gilt target in his arm, the which I cast overboard
with morris pikes ; and the mariner I have prisoner
told me that that same was your Admiral.' '
So fell gallant Sir Edward Howard, a victim,
to his own too heedless, reckless courage — to
his own maxim, in fact, that " no admiral was
good for anything who was not resolute even to
madness " —but a hero, standing out for ever as the
earliest of those great seamen, by whose example
have been built up the glorious traditions of the
English navy — carried on and never broken, through
four centuries of our national life, and never more
nobly, more sublimely, than in the present war.
In Howard's " bull-rushing tactics,'* as they
have been called — which he had used with wonderful
success the year before — there breathed the true
spirit of English seamanship. Though different in
circumstance, method and scale, the spirit was the
same as that which filled and impelled Hawke at
126 England's First Great War Minister
Quiberon, Matthews off Toulon, Cradock off Coronel,
and Beatty off Horn Reef. English sea-fighting, as
the veriest landsman can see, never has been, and
never will be, a mere coldly-calculated game of
" kriegspiel " — as England's enemies have ever
found, and are once more finding, to their dismay.
The loss of the Lord Admiral was deeply
mourned — need we say ? — by both services, and
every man in them, no less than by the King and
his War Minister. For, as Sir Edward Echyngham
wrote to Wolsey : " there was never noble man so
ill lost as he was, that was of so great courage and
had so many virtues, and that ruled so great an
army so well as he did, and kept so great order and
true justice."
It might be supposed, perhaps, that a life of
.great value to his King and Country had been thus
altogether thrown away in a mere reckless feat of
personal bravery, without inflicting any commen-
surate loss or damage on the enemy. But it was not
so. Howard's dashing lead in attempting to carry
out what his brother called u the most dangerful
enterprise I ever heard of, and the most manly
handled," bore, as we shall see, momentous con-
sequences out of all proportion to the action itself.
127
CHAPTER XL
HOWARD'S TACTICS CRITICIZED BY " EXPERTS."
Discussion of the Action — Cavilling Civilians — No Interference
from Wolsey — The King's Impatience — Shall " Attack them in their
Hiding-Places" — Amateurs and Professionals — Naval " Strategists"
and " Tacticians " — An " Expert's " Criticisms — " Not as I should have
done it " — Extraordinary Effects of Howard's Bravery and Death — The
Enemy's Generous Tribute — His Body Recovered, Salted and Em-
balmed— His Belongings Distributed — The Lion Heart of Howard —
His Admiral's Whistles and Chains — Effects of the News Abroad —
Who's the " Victory ? " — The Action disparaged by King Ferdinand
— Vexation of the King of Scots — Speedy and Striking Results —
England's Mastery of the Seas — Wolsey marshals the King's Forces
— Concentration in the Southern Counties and Ports — Wolsey's " New
Army."
/^[LORIOUS as was Howard's supreme act of
bravery, ending in his heroic death, and
deeply stirring as were its effects on the Fleet, and
on people at home and abroad, yet it was a sad
misfortune for England. Inevitably, therefore, as
is always the case when a thing of this sort occurs
in war, there was no end to the wordy chatterings
about it by the knowing ones ; and no end to the
explanations of how and why it happened — or rather
how and why it ought not to have happened — in the
128 England's First Great War Minister
service and out of it, with much criticism — and some
of it not too good-natured either — of the survivors,
of course, and even of the brave Howard himself.
There is evidence of this in a letter of his brother's,
written to Wolsey some five weeks after the Admiral's
death, complaining that his late brother had long
been exposed to unfair censure and attack for
having done nothing decisive with the fleet —
" many men putting fear what he durst do, which
opinion the day of his death he well proved untrue."
This would seem to give some colour to the
suggestion that the Admiral had been egged on,
by foolish taunts from impatient civilians at home
about his inactivity, and his want of enterprise — if
not of courage — to engage the enemy under the
guns of Brest and Le Conquet and in the shallow
waters of Whitsand Bay (Les Blancs Sablons)
against his better judgment.
That Wolsey, however, had no part in any
such movement as spurring him on to take energetic
action is clear from the whole tenour of the Admiral's
own letter, written to the Almoner only two or
three weeks before the battle ; and clearer still from
the tone of his brother's letter just cited.
In fact we may note here that though Wolsey 's
energy was inexhaustible and his thoroughness all-
pervading, we find no trace in the correspondence
Howard's Tactics Criticized by " Experts" 129
of the time that he ever endeavoured to usurp the
functions that properly belong to the executive
branch, either when acting — as we should say — as
First Lord of the Admiralty or as Secretary of
State for War. On the contrary, as far as one can
gather from the evidence available, he seems always
to have recognized the definite line that should
separate organization and administration at home
from military action abroad, whether on land or at
sea ; and to have strictly confined his activities
within the limitations which as a consequence he
imposed upon himself.
It does not necessarily follow, however, that
King Henry, whose impetuosity and impatience
Wolsey could only with difficulty — when at all —
control, was equally reasonable and restrained.
Indeed, were the account given by Hall in his
''Chronicle" of "The Triumphant Reign of King
Henry the Eighth" — published, it maybe observed,
in Henry's lifetime about thirty years after the event
— to be held to be anything like correct, which,
however, is very doubtful, as to how the attack on
the galleys came to be made, it would look very
much as if the whole thing had been brought about
by Royal incitation : in other words, that the rash,
almost wild, idea of " attacking them in their hiding
places" — "digging them out," in fact, "like rats in
K
130 England's First Great War Minister
their holes" — emanated not from the Admiral's
cabin aboard the " Mary Rose," but from the King's
closet within the Palace of Westminster.
If this be a fact, it was the first, but, unfortu-
nately, by no means the only, instance in our history,
of an amateur " strategist," seated in pompous self-
importance in that same locality, seeking from his
desk to interfere with and direct the naval policy
of our sailors on the seas, and to hamper their
judgment and action.
That Henry should afterwards turn on and blame
the unfortunate instruments of his ill-judged plan,
and the reluctant yielders to his imperious wilful-
ness, would only be in accordance with his customary
action ; and no more than the measure which he
meted out, in due course, to Wolsey and all his
most faithful servants in turn.
In this case, however, as Howard was dead —
whether what he did was in pursuit of the King's
instructions or not — there was nothing for it but to
go for the survivors ; so the blame fell, as we have
seen, on Howard's two chief subordinates, Sherborne
and Sidney.
Nevertheless, even if it be that Howard was
peremptorily ordered by the King to attack the
French fleet in Brest harbour, some of the criticisms
levelled by Hall and others at the way the dead
Howard's Tactics Criticized by "Experts" 131
Admiral had carried out the operation are not wanting
in cogency. The view taken of it at the time by
a certain Captain William Sabyn, who was himself
present at the engagement in command of a ship
called " The Lesser Bark," of 240 tons, with a
complement — crew, marines, and soldiers — of 193
men, is interesting. He seems to have been an
experienced seaman, and a considerable authority on
sea-fighting — what, in fact, would now be designated
as a " naval strategist " or " tactician." Moreover,
he enjoyed the confidence and high regard of the
Admiral, as well as of the King and his War
Minister, and was often consulted by each of them,
and made the medium of communication between
them.
In a confidential letter which he wrote when
under sail five days after the fight and Howard's
death, to "his most honorable Maister, Aumoner to
the King's Grace," he criticizes the late Admiral's
action in these words : " The enterprize on the
galleys was not conducted as I would have advised.
The Admiral had already attacked before I arrived,
and when," he continues, " I see them lie in so
great a strength by water and by land, I came unto
my Lord Admiral and showed him my mind and
mine advice." (Note the " I," '•< I," " I," of the
self-confident " expert," expressing his opinion after
K 2
132 England's First Great War Minister
the event.) But Sir Edward was "so sore set"
upon the plan suggested to him, so Captain Sabyn
said, by a Spaniard — evidently Charron or Sharant,
captain of a Spanish " carrack " — that he " could
not turn his mind . . . and the more pity it was :
howbeit he died like a valiant gentleman."
Howard's death, nevertheless, inconclusive though
the engagement had been, bore, as we have already
said, momentous consequences. His personal
bravery, and the outstanding audacity of the. idea
of attempting to storm the flagship of the French
fleet from a mere row-boat, made an extraordinary
sensation throughout Europe. It fastened especially
upon the imagination of the two contending nations.
To his own countrymen Howard seemed to
realize before their very eyes their highest ideal of
a sea-hero — the high-spirited leader, with chivalrous
self-sacrifice, seeking out his chief enemy in an
enterprise, perilous beyond imagining, invested with
all the fascination of sea-adventure, and charged
with the thrilling incidents of high romance.
On the enemy the effect was, in its way, scarcely
less striking. Throughout the French Admiral's
own narrative of the affair we detect a generous
admiration of the boldness of the attack on his
galleys, and for the English Admiral's own splendid
daring therein. " Us firent de grandes armes a
Howard's Tactics Criticized by " Experts" 133
merveilles," says he to a correspondent, " Croyez,
Monseigneur, que si Dieu ne m'eust aid£, sans
comparaison ils me devoient effondrer. . . . Jamais
je ne vis gens venir si desesp£rement que ceux la."
It seems evident that Howard's daring dash,
though it failed, might very well have succeeded,
but for the accident of the too shallow water, and
the too quickly ebbing tide. Had it done so,
and had " Prior John " fallen instead of him, the
destruction of the French fleet and the capture of
Brest would probably have been the prize.
In the contemporary English reports nothing
is said as to what became of Howard's body.
The statement made by Paulus Jovius (" Historia
sui Temporis," 1553, i. p. 99) that it "was thrown
on the beach, and recognized by the small golden
horn [" corniculum "] suspended from his neck as
the mark of his rank and office," is discredited in
the admirable life of Howard in the " Dictionary
of National Biography " (by the late Sir John
Laughton), where it is rightly pointed out that the
ensign of his office was a whistle or "pipe," not
a horn.
Moreover, Pr6gent, in his letter already referred
to, distinctly declares that he had the waters of the
bay dragged for the body, and that it was found
and brought ashore. He proceeded to have it dis-
134 England's First Great War Minister
embowelled and salted, and afterwards embalmed,
pending the decision of the King and Queen of
France as to where they wished it buried. Pre-
sumably it was buried at Brest or Le Conquet,
perhaps in the Abbey of St. Matthew, now in ruins.
The heart — the lion heart of Edward Howard
— Pregent begged to be allowed to retain himself.
As for his fine suit of armour, he sent it to the
French King's daughter, Louise Duchesse d'Angou-
leme ; while his chain of office, with its attached
whistle — "siflet avec la chayne . . . celui de quoi
il commandoit . . . non pas son siflet d'honneur "
— was sent by Present to the Queen of France.
This chain and whistle can scarcely have been
the ones which Howard had thrown into the sea, to
prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy ;
for they could hardly have been recovered.
The fact is, as has been shown by Mr. Julian S.
Corbett in a very interesting article in the " Mariner's
Mirror" (vol. iii. p. 352, Dec. 1913), the Lord
Admiral in Henry VIII's time, had two chains and
whistles — one his " chain and whistle of command "
(" celui de quoi il commandoit"), and the other "the
chain and whistle of honour" ("siflet d'honneur").
This last was usually a chain of massive gold links
or roped strands of gold, and a great whistle of gold,
studded with precious gems, worn " baldrick-wise "
Howard's Tactics Criticized by "Experts" 135
— that is, like a sash over one shoulder and slant-
wise across the breast.
It was evidently this chain — " my rope of bowed
nobles that I hang my great whistle by, containing
300 angels " — which he had left by his will to Sir
Charles Brandon (the Duke of Suffolk), and this
whistle — " my great whistle " — which he had left to
the King.
Reverting to Present : salting one's slain enemy's
body, cutting out his heart to keep for one's self
in a bottle, and dividing his uniform and other
belongings among members of the Royal family,
seems more after the manner of a modern Boche
than of a chivalrous, mediaeval French knight.
But it really seems to have been done with the
object of showing respect for so gallant a foe.
In the meanwhile the King of France had
hastened to proclaim throughout Europe his great
''victory" over the English; making, of course,
the most of the death of the Admiral, "a great
English noble," as though that were a decisive proof
of the utter defeat of the Navy he had commanded.
The French naturally had the advantage of being
nearer to the chief capitals of Europe ; and ere
Henry and Wolsey had heard any account of what
had occurred, despatch riders from Louis XII were
speeding across France to carry the news to Spain,
136 England's First Great War Minister
Germany and the Netherlands ; while from Toulon,
it was borne across the sea to Genoa and thence to
Venice, Florence and Rome.
King Henry's agents were, necessarily, very
belated with the English version of the affair —
which, however, when given, put a very different
complexion on it, especially when it was learnt
that the French owned to very heavy losses ;
that the English fleet was still quite intact ; and
that it was still hovering threateningly outside
the harbour of Brest ; where " Prior John's " Fleet
still snugly lay.
This clear and definite upshot of the whole thing
could not be ignored ; and Henry's envoys in Rome,
Brussels and Madrid plainly spoke of the result as
a "victory" for the English fleet. Wolsey, as we
know, was not the sort of man to "sing small " over
such a superb action as the Lord Admiral's — even
although its purpose did not quite come off.
To the world in general, consequently, Howard's
valiant deed acted as a proclamation that English-
men, having found their true outlet on the element
that washed their shores and guarded their homes,
would, in the future, risk all odds in a determined
struggle for the mastery of the seas.
Not surprising, therefore, is it to find that by
those who had hitherto disparaged the martial spirit
Howard's Tactics Criticized by " Experts" 137
and fighting capabilities of the English, the news
was received with feelings of alarm and annoyance,
especially by King Ferdinand, who was then
meditating treachery, and seeking an opportunity to
make his peace with France.
Thus we find Knight, the English Ambassador
in Spain, writing to the King, telling him that " the
victory gained over the French by sea on St. Mark's
Day gave no satisfaction to his father-in-law, King
Ferdinand, who actually grieved that ships of his
own had contributed to the victory," and who tried
his best to console himself by disparaging it.
And so did the King of Scots, who had laughed
so heartily over the Fontarabia affair, and who now,
while chuckling complaisantly over the gallant
Howard's death, could not conceal his vexation at
the general result of the whole operations being
favourable to England. This was especially the
case, as he was just then revolving in his mind that
treacherous assault on his brother-in-law's kingdom,
which he intended launching as soon as Henry
should be inextricably entangled in his expedition
across the channel against the French King.
At the same time he couldn't resist making
satirical remarks to the English Ambassador, to
be repeated to Henry himself, about " his enter-
prising so great a matter as to make war upon
138 England's First Great War Minister
France, which he cannot well perform or bring
about " — so he ardently hoped.
The strongest proof, indeed, of the moral import-
ance of the fight off Brest is to be found in such
futile endeavours to underrate it.
There was, besides, another consequence, equally
striking and immediate, though of far greater practical
importance, of Howard's act of reckless bravery.
For his brother was soon able to report to the
King that, as a result of it and of some minor actions
which ensued, "the French fleet at Brest dare
not come out to the west part of this Realm." As
Hall puts it : " The Admiral so nobly and valiantly
did scour the sea, that the Frenchmen had no lust
to keep the coast of England ; for he fought with
them at their own ports."
A similar view of the naval strategic situation
reached Wolsey at the same time from Captain
Sabyn, who wrote : "So long as the English remain in
one beating and remove not, the enemy will not come
out from the coast of Brittany, or give an oppor-
tunity of pursuit. There are numerous places where
a landing can be effected. He has offered his advice
as Wolsey, his head and governor, commanded."
How all this should have come about remains
somewhat obscure. But the essential fact of the
whole matter seems to be that the English Fleet,
Howard's Tactics Criticized by " Experts" 139
without any decisive action, which the enemy steadily
avoided, had won a real victory of " morale," which
was very nearly as effective in results.
No longer, at any rate, did the French fleet
venture to dispute England's mastery of the narrow
seas, which thenceforth remained clear and free for
the transportation of Henry's great " Army Royal"
to Calais and the frontier of France.
This now became Wolsey's chief preoccupation ;
and so we find that while he was attending to the
endless details of arms and armaments, provisioning
and catering, as well as to the financial side, he was
all the time equally absorbed in the larger problems
of marshalling the contingents of already mustered
troops, and of marching them to the ports on the
southern coast, and of there embarking them for
transportation to Calais.
The orders issued to the several commanders of
the various divisions of the Army, directing them
where to bring their forces to, and when, seem all, or
mostly all, to have come straight from "the King's
Almoner."
One of these — an order of his dated May 9th,
1513, to Sir Charles Brandon "to join the Admiral
with 4,000 men at Southampton and take ship
there on the i8th of May" — is worthy of notice
both for itself and for the reason that Bishop Fox,
140 England's First Great War Minister
writing to Wolsey in reference to this particular
movement, and to the forces of the King already
mustered or mustering throughout England, speaks
of them as "this New Army" — " Wolsey's New
Army " as one might say. And as in truth it was,
for a tool may surely be as fittingly named after the
man who fashions it, as after the man who uses it ;
and no one has ever been known to object to the
expressions " Wellington's Army " in the Peninsula,
41 Roberts's Army" in Afghanistan, " Wolseley's
Army" in Egypt, or " French's Army " in Flanders.
This by the way. As to the concentration,
which Wolsey was controlling and directing, of his
" New Army" at and around Southampton, Dover
and the other Cinque Ports, and then at Calais,
obviously it involved the control of the movement of
ships of war as well as of transports and convoys ; and
we are, consequently, not surprised to find that every
naval disposition and requirement came — just as did
every military one — within the scope of his strong
vigorous methods and his rare penetrating insight.
Consequently, also, there could be no question
of any differences as to action, or any conflict of
policy, between the naval and military authorities
or between the fighting and providing branches of
either — all being worked in perfect unison together,
by one commanding and controlling brain.
CHAPTER XII.
THE HOLY LEAGUE — SUBSIDIZED SOVEREIGNS.
Henry's Allies — Maximilian's Shifts and Tricks — The Holy League
renewed — Henry's Sincerity — His Chivalrous Ideals — A Lion-Hearted
King — His Mixed Motives — Impresses Europe and his own Subjects
— Intends to Command in Person — Discussion in Council and in
Parliament — Wolsey's Plain, Honest Dealing — New Terms in the
Holy League — The Duchess of Savoy negotiates for her Father —
Wants his Subsidy paid in Advance — Worrying the English Ambas-
sador for the Instalments—" The Money is on the Way " — Maximilian's-
Delight — Would like a Small Loan too — King Ferdinand wants Money
also — His Treachery — His Advice to " his son " Henry.
JT7TT*HILST such naval and military preparations
as we have given an account of, in our last
chapter, were in progress, and engaging Wolsey's
incessant and most anxious thought; his attention,
for some months, was not less imperatively claimed
for the difficult task of unravelling the tangled skein
of the diplomatic manoeuvres of King Ferdinand
and the Emperor Maximilian, and of weaving out
of them, and in spite of them, a coherent scheme
of policy.
Endlessly protracted and complicated had been
the negotiations, extending over five or six months,
142 England's First Great War Minister
for the amendment of the treaty between Henry
VIII and the Emperor Maximilian, and the Pope
and the King of Arragon ; and endless, too, the
turns and shifts and tortuous tricks of Maximilian
— "the man of few pence," as he was derisively
called throughout Europe — who, always desperately
hard-up, was for ever scheming so to involve and
confuse matters that he should be required to do as
little as possible, as late as possible, while getting as
much as possible, as soon as possible, for himself for
whatever he undertook to do, or rather pretended he
meant to do, and then quite failed to do — always
with the steady aim before him of replenishing his
ever-empty coffers with good English gold, and
plenty of it.
At last an agreement was arrived at between
the parties and embodied in a new treaty of alliance,
or rather a new version of the original " Holy
League," as it was called — "Holy" because the
maintenance of the rights of the Holy See was the
pretext of its originators.
As regards Henry VIII, however, it is only fair
to say that, notwithstanding all the craft and greed
inherited from his Tudor and Yorkish ancestors, he
was, at this early period of his life, fairly sincere and
straightforward, and towards his partners in the
league loyal and confiding to the point of simplicity.
The Holy League — Subsidized Sovereigns 143
And his motives though mixed were, at that time
at any rate, in the main disinterested and chivalrous,
and his dealings — inspired and influenced as he was
by Wolsey — though sagacious always, still perfectly
straight.
For, eager as he was to prove his own troops a
match in courage and endurance for those of any
Continental power, he was bent, at the same time,
on showing the whole Christian world that he was
above all things a brave and chivalrous knight,
always ready to do battle in his own person for the
rights of Holy Church, and now, more than ever,
impatient to punish with his own strong arm the
miscreants, who had sacrilegiously threatened and
flaunted the Vicar of Christ, and wickedly aided and
abetted schismatic revolters to defy his supreme and
sacred authority.
And also, while anxious to remove the impression
that his power and influence in international affairs
were of small account, he wanted to appear before
all Europe, and equally in the eyes of his own sub-
jects, as a lion-hearted sovereign, resolute to vindicate
his own rights to his ancient inheritance — the great
and rich provinces of Guienne, Touraine, Acqui-
taine and Normandy — which he claimed as inalien-
able portions of the hereditary dominions of the
Crown of England ; though it must be said that this
144 England's First Great War Minister
was really far from being a decided determination
in his essentially practical, English mind.
Mixing thus, as was ever his wont, the pro-
fession of lofty spiritual motives with substantial
material and personal aims, until he confused and
deluded others as well as himself, he, with an astute-
ness not quite intended, perhaps, or recognized by
himself, assumed a character, which not only exalted
him in the minds and hearts of his own people — re-
calling the brave old days of yore, and the immortal
exploits of Edward I, Edward III, Edward the Black
Prince and Henry V — but which also undoubtedly
impressed foreign nations and struck the imagina-
tion of all Christendom.
Here was a young King, scarcely twenty- two
years old, and only four on the throne, as yet
totally ignorant of state-craft, and altogether in-
experienced in the art of war, boldly assuming
personal command of an army, numerous indeed
and well-equipped perhaps, but hastily mustered,
not thoroughly trained, it was thought, and without
experience in war, and venturing therewith to
challenge the whole might and chivalry of the
Kingdom of France. Such audacity, foolish and
reckless as it might be, had yet something impres-
sive and astonishing in it ; and it was not without
much misgiving that people in Paris echoed the
The Holy League — Subsidized Sovereigns 145
same contemptuous opinion of the English army
and its King, so confidently given utterance to in
Valladolid and Vienna.
Henry himself, on the prompting probably, and
under the guidance assuredly, of his far-visioned
counsellor, " Master Almoner," had taken every
opportunity in his letters to the Pope, the Emperor,
the Lady Margaret and the King of Arragon, as
well as in his despatches to his ambassadors and
agents abroad, to emphasize the significance of this
resolve of his to take the command of his Army " in
propria persona " — that Army, the immense size and
equipment of which he was also always careful to
lay stress on.
That all this was not without great effect, as
we have said, both at home and abroad is proved
conclusively by the confidential despatches of the
foreign envoys in England, both of allies and of
neutrals, and not less by the private correspond-
ence of the factors or partners of foreign traders in
London.
Yet it had not been without opposition from the
older, more cautious, and old-fashioned of his ad-
visers, that Henry had come to this important
decision. The question had been freely debated,
not only in the Council but also in Parliament. For
Henry, thorough Englishman as he was, and
146 England's First Great War Minister
thoroughly understanding the English people — as
only the two great Tudors, of all the nine monarchs,
who reigned over England in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, ever did understand them —
always took care to obtain the approval of his people
to whatever important step he took in policy, which
might seriously involve and affect the nation.
From the beginning of his reign he had appre-
ciated the wisdom of so doing, recognizing the truth
and significance of the maxim quoted to him in after
years by Francis I, that " there is no way so safe
as through Parliament "-— " that English Parliament
in which," as he wrote in one of his letters to the
Pope with a sort of pride, if perhaps rather with
his tongue in his cheek, " the discussions are free
and unrestricted " — not as did the Stuarts after-
wards, who always referred to Parliament as an
excrescence on the body politic, composed of med
dlesome and ignorant sedition-mongers.
The objections to his commanding his Army in
person were, of course, mainly political — the danger
of civil dissension and even revolt during his absence
abroad, and the want of male issue.
That the bolder policy nevertheless prevailed
was doubtless owing to Wolsey's strong support and
advocacy, and his growing influence with the King.
For it was just such a dramatic stroke as would
The Holy League — Subsidized Sovereigns 147
appeal to the intrepid imagination and the wide
Imperial grasp of the future Cardinal.
Be it ever remembered too of that great
statesman, that acute and penetrating as was his
intellect by nature, and subtle and flexible as it
had been rendered by training, yet his policy was
always daring, strong and resolute, and in his conduct
and actions he was always the plain-dealing, honest,
direct Englishman — even occasionally with a con-
siderable dash of his master's bluffness about him.
The terms of the " Holy League " having
been agreed, as we stated above, were finally con-
cluded and signed and sealed as between Henry
and Maximilian — with reservations for the Pope and
King Ferdinand — on April 8th.
It will not be necessary to recite here all its
particulars, save only to say that the Emperor was
bound to declare himself within thirty days an enemy
of France, whereupon he was to receive from the
English Ambassador 35,000 crowns; and again the
same sum on invading France ; and three months
afterwards another 60,000 crowns, as payment in full.
Ferdinand was to invade France from the south ;
while Henry engaged to attack her both by sea and
land in the north.
In all the negotiations of the Emperor Maxi-
milian with King Henry, his daughter Margaret,
L 2
148 England's First Great War Minister
Duchess of Savoy, always acted as go-between,
for which office, being Regent of the Nether-
lands — the heritage of her youthful nephew,
Prince Charles of Castile, afterwards the Emperor
Charles V — and, at the same time, a very clever
woman, she was peculiarly suited. Soon after the
negotiations had been concluded, and long before
the Emperor had fulfilled any part of his side of the
bargain, we find her applying, at his urgent request,
for an advance of the first two instalments of his
subsidy.
About the same time she was also trying to get
the wages of the German mercenaries paid a month
in advance. " For," as Henry's Ambassador in
Brussels at Margaret's Court remarked in a letter
to Wolsey, "the Emperor is very poor, which
my Lady knows well," adding that " until this
money comes they can expect nothing but the
usual delays."
On the other hand, there had been some slight
delay on Henry's side, in getting his Army across
the Channel, and in the consequent opening of the
campaign. This had given rise to much grumbling
on the part of the Emperor, who eagerly seized on
it as a pretext for incessantly worrying the English
Ambassador accredited to his Court about the pay-
ment of his subsidy ; and for getting, as we have
The Holy League — Subsidized Sovereigns 149
just said, his daughter to do the same to Henry's
Ambassador at Brussels, although he had not yet
fulfilled his part by declaring war against France.
Maximilian's excuse for this omission was that
through Henry's being behindhand with his own
expedition, and through himself not yet having
handled the cash, which he had counted on receiving
before then, he had been put in a very tight place.
His contention was that, in these circumstances,
Henry ought to pay the first instalment in advance
— which was agreed to.
But no sooner had this been done than Maximilian
was after the second instalment ; claiming at the
same time that Henry ought to help him to pay the
Imperial mercenaries, who had been engaged by
him in the expectation of an early advance of the
English forces into Picardy. " He marvelled," he
said, " that no advises had yet been received respect-
ing it, and he was afraid the delay would do harm to
both."
This was as late as June i8th ; and two days
later he returned to the charge, " taking it very
strangely that there should have been any delay in
the payment of the second instalment." When a
day or two after he heard from the English Ambas-
sador that he had just received letters from Henry
promising that, " for the advancement of the common
150 England's First Great War Minister
affair, he would send the second instalment along
with all convenient speed " — it was, as a fact, already
on its way — his delight " at the favourable news "
knew no bounds ; and in a burst of confidence he
avowed " he had had little sleep for a night or two "
worrying over it all.
The fact is he was, as usual, very hard up ; and
was all the while importuning his daughter to try
her hand at getting Henry — if he wouldn't under-
take to pay his " Almayns " — at least to lend him
a few thousand crowns to help him satisfy the
clamours of his Swiss mercenaries.
In the meanwhile, Henry's other ally, Ferdinand
of Arragon, was also giving him a good deal of
trouble. He, too, was constantly asking for English
gold ; and yet at the very moment of so doing, and
whilst professing, in letter after letter, his unalterable
love for his " dear son/' he was all the time secretly
intriguing — which Henry and Wolsey had certain
knowledge of, from the English agents abroad — with
the common enemy behind the backs of his allies ;
and firmly resolved to leave his open-handed, too
confiding and obedient son-in-law in the lurch at
the end.
" He did not like," he said, " to take money
from the King of England, who is his son." But
all the same he did it. " He had intended," he
The Holy League — Subsidized Sovereigns 151
said, "to assist him out of paternal love. But the
impossibility of getting any money in Spain con-
tinued" ; and get it he must — somehow; and a good
deal more than Henry's proposed subsidy to him
of 100,000 crowns, "which is a rather small aid,"
he opined, "in so great a war, all the advantage of
which will accrue to England."
" Pay, pay, pay," in fact, was the cry that
sounded in Henry's ears continuously and from
every side — and he was, in truth, by this time
beginning to get heartily sick of it.
Ferdinand, however, in the hope of not arousing
suspicion, attempted to disguise his treachery by
expressing his deep concern for the welfare of his
excellent and dutiful "son of England," and also by
lavishing on him no end of advice — often, it must
be admitted, very good advice too.
" The French," he warned him, " hope to cut off
the English from their provisions, and to wear them
out in sieges of fortresses and in small actions. The
King of England must, therefore, take the greatest
care to provide his army with all that is necessary.
Want of provisions," he assures his youthful and
inexperienced son-in-law, "too often forces armies
to place themselves in dangerous positions or to
abandon their plans." Especially he begs the King
" not to divide his army into small detachments,
152 England's First Great War Minister
but to invade France with a compact body of
troops."
At the same time, Ferdinand could not resist
the malicious pleasure he evidently took in always
" rubbing it in " that Henry's Army, as compared
with his own and those of other Continental Powers,
was a mere amateur one. " The French," he told
him plainly, " are superior to the English in the art
of war, and would do them much harm in a series
of small engagements." Sometimes, however, he
shrewdly enough picked out what seem to be
ineradicable defects in our national character, or at
any rate, in our conduct of military operations. For
instance, he particularly begs Henry " to take care
that his soldiers do not entertain too mean an
opinion of their enemy," warning him of the danger
of their so doing, and assuring him that " such an
attitude would inevitably lead to further disasters,
owing to the neglect of proper precautions." Several
incidents in the subsequent campaign showed that
the warning was not unneeded.
Yet Ferdinand, for all his pretended anxiety on
Henry's account, was, in a private letter to a friend,
written about the middle of June, already chuckling
over his " beloved son's " probable speedy discomfi-
ture. "In. spite of the powerful army," he wrote,
"with which he is threatening to invade France, I
The Holy League — Subsidized Sovereigns 153
have no great confidence," he declares with com-
placency, " in any of the enterprizes of the King of
England."
But he had reckoned without the King's Almoner,
whose influence and transcending abilities he seems,
at this period, to have been ignorant of, or at least
to have ignored ; but to whose genius for organiza-
tion and administration it was due that his cherished
forebodings were soon to be brought to nought.
And not his cherished forebodings for the enter-
prises of his young son-in-law only ; but his most
cherished aspirations for his own personal schemes
as well. For in Wolsey he was to meet his match
— one who could dissect his motives, unravel his
trickeries and frustrate his plans : one, who, among
all the many marvels of a most marvellous career,
was able, with scarcely any previous diplomatic
training, to step forward into the troubled and
perplexing arena of European politics, and there at
once hold his own with the most practical wielders
of all the weapons of the diplomatic art. The King
of Arragon, who liked to boast that he could deceive
and cheat the same dupe three times over — so deep
was his astuteness — was soon to find that once was
enough for Thomas Wolsey, who, without imitating
his perfidy, checkmated, by sheer diplomatic skill,
all his plots and wiles. Not much longer was the
154 England's First Great War Minister
crafty father-in-law to be allowed to play unchecked
upon the chivalry and artlessness of his gallant
young son of England, who had vainly thought to
captivate the world by the display of brilliant exploits
with unselfish aims.
CHAPTER XIII.
SPIES, CARD-SHARPERS AND GERMAN MERCENARIES.
Margaret of Savoy's Goodwill towards England — The French
King's Anger — " Safe under English Arrows " — Warning against Spies
— " Shady " Neutrals — Crafty Card-Sharpers — Prosecuted for Cheating
— Henry engages German Mercenaries — Their Wages "on the Nail " —
The Arch-Mercenary Maximilian-—His Daily Wage — Service under
Henry VIII — Wears the English King's Badge — His Poses and
Theatricalities — His Astonishing Pretensions — German Mercenaries
— Ready to Fight on any Side — Good Soldiers — But Detestable
Companions-in-Arms — Their Horrible Atrocities — Spanish Complaints
of their Ruffianism and " Beastliness " — Their Greediness — French
Chivalry to the Enemy — German Barbarities — Cruelties to their
Prisoners — Froissart denounces them — " Maudit Soient ils ! "
TTf HE Duchess Margaret, though, as we have seen,
dutifully, steadily and continuously working
in her father's interests, nevertheless showed genuine
goodwill all the time towards England and her
sovereign ; rendering them many a service and some
assistance. And she did this in spite of being Regent
of the Netherlands, and notwithstanding the fact
that those provinces were supposed to be neutral
in the war.
Her more than ''benevolent neutrality," indeed,
was invaluable to Henry, securing, as it did, his
156 England's First Great War Minister
Army invading France from any menace to its left
flank or rear.
On account of the part she thus played in help-
ing her father and his allies, she incurred the bitter
wrath of Louis XII. He wrote to her vowing
vengeance on her nephew's subjects for her breach
of neutrality. Her answer was spirited, and con-
tained a taunt showing that the old reputation of
the English archers was by no means extinct on the
Continent : indeed it had been recently expressed
in the saying of De Comines, " Les Anglois sont la
fleur des archiers du monde." " Tell the King of
France," she said, " he may spit out all his venom
and do his worst, for I am safe under the English
arrows."
Indeed, her friendliness to England, and to King
Henry in particular, was so very marked that she
was constantly sending, through the English Am-
bassador at M alines or Brussels, many valuable
hints and suggestions as to what things should be
done, and what guarded against, in the preparations
for the campaign, and in the prosecution of it.
More than once, for instance, she conveyed warn-
ings against the intriguing and spying that was
everywhere rampant — one curious caution " against
certain foreigners in London at whose houses she had
heard King Henry had been privately dining. His
Spies and Card-Sharpers 157
enemies," she added, " had no consciences " ; and
she warned him that they were ready, at any time,
to make use of the basest means to obtain the
betrayal of the confidences of social intercourse — a
thing the straightforward young monarch would
never himself have suspected.
Later on, in such things, he became cautious
and cunning to a fault ; but in these earlier days,
even with the din of " war work " resounding all
about him, he was so imprudent in indulging his
passion for play as to admit to his intimacy certain
" shady" foreigners — " rank outsiders," though they
must have been thought to be by his own " set." It
must have been against them that the Duchess
Margaret warned him.
Even Hall, whose chronicle is one long psen of
praise of the bluff monarch, admits : " The King
this time was much enticed to play, which appetite
certain crafty persons about him perceiving, brought
in Frenchmen and Lombards, to make wagers with
him ; and so he lost much money ; but when he
perceived their craft, he eschewed their company
and let them go." But not until after several of
these adventurers, whose only recommendation was
that they played a good hand at cards, shovelboard
or dicing, had accompanied him on his campaign in
Picardy and Flanders.
158 England's First Great War Minister
Three of this sort, all foreign adventurers,
emboldened by their success in higher social
spheres, thought to play their tricks, when over
with the Army in Calais, with equal facility on the
shrewd merchants of " The Staple." But they were
quickly found out and prosecuted " for cheating at
cards and dice," in spite of their protestations of
innocence and their assertion (which was no doubt
true enough) that they " had often played the
same games with many noblemen in England" —
" people in the very smartest society," as would be
said now, who in our times also have had their
own experience of this kind of " distinguished
foreigner."
The Duchess Margaret, besides showing her
personal friendliness towards King Henry, had
no small share, by her influence with him, in
inducing him to consent to a stipulation in the
Holy League, which both the Emperor and King
Ferdinand made a great point of. This was the
taking by Henry into his service of some 4,000
German mercenaries — "Almayns" as they were
called — 1,500 of whom were horsemen, over and
above those already engaged by him, amounting
altogether to n,ooo men, all of whose wages
were to be paid direct from the Royal English
Treasury.
German Mercenaries 159
These men were, in truth, mercenaries of the
most unmitigated sort — threatening that if they were
not put on the pay-rolls at once on being engaged,
they would go over straight to the enemy, and always
insisting on getting their wages — 8 florins a month —
down " on the nail."
This, indeed, was characteristic, as we have seen,
of the Arch-Mercenary, the Emperor Maximilian
himself, who, besides clamourously insisting on draw-
ing his huge subsidy in advance, and also begging
small loans of his generous young ally, had no com-
punction in entering into the service of the King of
England in person, at the daily wage of 100 crowns;
which he regularly drew, in good solid English gold,
as it became due. This sum, if we are to accept
some estimates of the relative value of the crown at
that period, would represent something like ^1000
now — assuredly not a bad daily " screw," even for a
German Emperor.
Maximilian even took pleasure in parading his
pretended subservience to King Henry, by appear-
ing in his camp before TheVouanne and Tournay
arrayed in a suit of simple black velvet — in mourning
for his wife then just dead — " wearing on it the cross
of St. George and a Tudor rose, as the King's
soldier " ; while his attendants, in black cloth, were
all similarly invested with the badge of service under
160 England's First Great War Minister
the English King. Further, in all military parades
and ceremonies, he would always insist on ostenta-
tiously taking a subordinate position — " declaring
publicly that he came to be of use to the King of
England, and calling the King at one time * his
Son,' at another 'his King,' and at another ' his
Brother.'"
" Son," " King," or " Brother," it was all nothing,
of course, but a ridiculous theatrical pose, on the
part of the Imperial mountebank. For Maximilian
had played many parts in his time ; and this was
merely a new posture to be assumed by him, who
was, everywhere and always, the same attitudinizing
sovereign, the same swollen-headed egotist, the same
treacherous ally.
Truth to tell, in his duplicity, his bombast, his
poses, his theatricalities, his absurd pretentions to
divine guidance, his aspirations even for election —
he a layman ! — to the Popedom, and his delusion
that after his death he would be canonized, he bears
a very remarkable resemblance to another Teutonic
Imperial Personage, whom we have heard something
of, now and then, in our own time.
Such was the Chief German Mercenary in
Henry VIII's army ; and it is clear that he was by
no means wanting in that preposterous "geist"
which, though seeming so absurd to us ordinary,
German Mercenaries 161
plain, down-right Englishmen, evidently strikes the
pro-Germans, still gliding snake-like and grubbing
mole-like among us, with a foolish, gaping, open-
mouthed awe.
Fitting head, indeed, was he to the gang of
brutal hirelings, whom King Henry had been reluc-
tantly compelled, by the insistence of both his allies,
to enrol under his standard. But he soon had
enough of them : and never again, during his reign,
were German mercenaries allowed to pollute an
English army.
So debased was this " Almayn " breed, that they
were ready to fight even against their own country-
men at any time, if it was made worth their while
to do so — like the Prussians, in later times, intriguing,
and even fighting, against the rest of Germany " for
a consideration " from Napoleon.
In fact, they were constantly, in the wars of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, enlisting on
either side indifferently or on both sides at the same
time — French, English, Italian, Spanish — when
these nations were in arms against each other.
Nevertheless, they were undeniably good soldiers,
inured by long and varied service to all the hard-
ships and trials of warfare, armed with the best and
most recent type of weapon, and trained in the most
modern school of tactics.
M
1 62 England's First Great War Minister
On the other hand, as companions in arms they
were detestable — often fighting with our men, and
sometimes even killing them when in camp or on
the march. On one occasion they seized the guns
and turned them on the King and his camp ; and
they were frequently committing many atrocities
upon the French, after the usual fashion of German
soldiery in all periods of history — for which Henry
had several of them promptly strung up on the spot
— as we shall see.
Highly significant indeed is it, that the War
Correspondent of the English Government with
Henry's Army in France, writing on the spot as the
official " eye-witness," should have occasion, at least
three times during the campaign, to condemn the
barbarities of the German allies and mercenaries,
fighting on the side of the English ; and yet not once
have had reason to blame for anything of the sort
the soldiers of France, fighting against them : but,
on the contrary, should several times bear witness
to their chivalrous conduct in warfare.
How different from the German was always the
behaviour of the French and English towards each
other ! As Froissart, the old chronicler of chivalry
records — humane, generous and " moult courtois "
to their prisoners. Never may we or our allies
be tempted to forfeit that fine, long-time-honoured
German Mercenaries 163
tribute by imitating the ruffian Huns, and making
cruel reprisals even for such atrocities as theirs.
The English and French experience of the
German mercenaries, it should be noted, was by no
means exceptional. A Spanish memoir of this very
time complains of their " arrogance, ruffianism and
beastliness, rendering them firebrands and a source of
incessant danger among whomsoever they were
brought into relation with." He adds that "such is
their greediness that any one of them is ready to
run the risk of introducing the plague into the ranks
of the army in which they are serving, by recklessly
entering a village or farmhouse known to be
stricken with the disease, simply with the object of
stealing a chicken ! "
Froissart also, it may be recalled, writing of
earlier wars, records that the Germans always kept
their prisoners in gaol, like criminals, half-starved
and in irons, in order to extort larger ransoms from
their heart-wrung mothers and wives — forestalling
the cruelties and horrors of Doberitz, Ruhleben and
Wittenberg, the devilish malignancies of which have
not even such sordid motives to explain them.
" M audit, soient-ils ! "exclaims Froissart, " ce
sont gens sans pitie et sans honneur ! " Such
have they ever been, and such are they still to
this day !
M 2
164 England 's First Great War Minister
" Maudit soient-ils ! " Many are the agonized,
grief-torn hearts in England as well as in France,
maddened by thoughts of the starving and torturing
of their dear ones, in which that bitter old-time
malediction will find a deep echo to-day !
" Maudit soient-ils!"
CHAPTER XIV.
COMMAND OF THE SEA — TRANSPORTING THE
NEW ARMY.
Henry VI IPs Letter to the Pope— The Triple Entente— " No
Separate Peace " — England's Aim in the War — " Never a Dishonour-
able Peace " — The Liberties of the Church — To Free Europe from
Domination — Rise of England's Naval Power — Command of the Sea —
Wolsey's Far-Reaching Imagination — The King's Great Ships —
"England's Navy "—Transporting " Wolsey's New Army" to Calais
— The Vanguard commanded by the Lord Steward — Retinue of the
Master of the Ordnance — Whole Composition of the Vanguard —
The King's Summons to the Feudal Lords— The Rear Ward com-
manded by the Lord Chamberlain — Great Lords and Landowners as
" Grand Captains "—A Great Lord's Receipt for his Wages — Horse-
men Strangers.
in the spring, Henry VIII, in order
to expound his aims and policy to the new
Pope Leo X, who had just succeeded Julius II,
indited, exactly a week after the signing of the new
treaty, a long and important despatch — doubtless
drafted by Wolsey — to Cardinal Bainbridge, the
English envoy in Rome.
Beginning by stating that he rejoiced to find
that Leo sanctioned the league for the defence of
the Church, and had joined it, he went on to say :
1 66 England's First Great War Minister
" The whole expense and danger of the war will
fall upon England — a war kindled in order to
defend the Church, and free her from the savage
tyranny of the King of France, who is the common
enemy of all Christian Princes. Considering the
magnitude of my preparations and the vast expense,
etc., I cannot think of entertaining any proposition
for peace, at all events without the consent of all
the parties to the entente — and never to a base and
dishonourable one."
This was an allusion to an effort which was
being made by the French King to win over the
new Pope to a general peace, ostensibly with the
object of attacking the Infidels.
" France," continued Henry in his despatch, " has
no other object in view except to trample on the
Pope and all the potentates of Europe. Cardinal
Bainbridge is to tell his Holiness that a great fleet
with 12,000 combatants of all arms is already at
sea, and that King Henry has 40,000 more, and
powerful artillery, with which he intends to invade
France in person. He hopes that Leo will follow
the example of his predecessor in sanctioning this
expedition undertaken for the liberation of the
Church. . . . France, as Leo justly says, under
colour of peace, may be only seeking to carry out
designs against the Church. It will be more
Command of the Sea 167
expedient, therefore, to cripple his power, and
prevent his ambition for the future."
Henry added that " he wants the Pope to support
him with his temporal as well as his spiritual aid.
It is impious," adds this loyal and dutiful son of the
Church fervently, " to abuse the Pope, the Head
of Christendom. The King of Scots had had the
audacity to say he would pay no obedience to the
Pope if he issued any process against him for break-
ing the peace with England, using other arrogant
expressions after his fashion " — which all seems to
have shocked the pious young King very much indeed!
In a draft of a commission to his Ambassador in
Arragon Henry reiterates the same contention that
4 ' it is reasonable the Pope should give them every
assistance, as England has entered upon this war,
to its great cost, in defence of his Holiness and all
Italy, ... so that the tyranny of the French king
being repressed, all Christian princes will be able to
undertake the crusade against the Infidels "—the
very same reason the King of France himself gave
for the urgency of making peace.
But there is really no reason to suppose that
Henry's protestations that he joined the <l Holy
League " mainly out of concern for the independence
of the Papacy, as well as of Europe, were not to a
great extent perfectly true and sincere.
1 68 England's First Great War Minister
It may be noted by the way that the " Holy
League " was the first occasion on which England,
having allies in a Continental war, rendered them
assistance with subsidies as well as by her naval
predominance in the northern seas — secured to her
for the first time in her history by the great fleet
built and fitted out by her enthusiastic young
sovereign, led on and encouraged by his sagacious,
imperial-minded minister.
Indeed, the importance of the rise of England's
sea-power — so suddenly become a paramount factor
in her national life, and the real cause and origin of
her newly acquired influence amongst the European
Powers — was about to be demonstrated in most
striking fashion. For having scoured the narrow
seas and shut the French fleet up in its harbours,
there was held in readiness by England for embarka-
tion in hundreds of small vessels, convoyed by
the victorious galleys of Brest, to be flung across
the Channel for landing at will either in Brittany,
Normandy, Picardy or Flanders, a fully equipped
and powerfully armed field force of upwards of
40,000 men.
Can we doubt that it was to Wolsey — at this
time the inspirer of Henry's political schemes
and the contriver and devisor of his enterprises
— can we doubt that it was to the all-embracing
Command of the Sea 169
political vision of Wolsey that we owe the first
clear perception of all that might be involved
for this small island kingdom in that pregnant
phrase " the command of the sea " ?
May we not see plain proof of this in his eager
attention to every detail relating to His Majesty's
ships — their tonnage, their speed, their manning — in
his unceasing preoccupation with their armament
and victualling ; in his constant friendly and intimate
correspondence with their captains, and especially
with the two admirals who in turn commanded them ?
And can it be without significance that the
building of those fine ships " The Sovereign," the
"Mary Rose," the "Gabriel Royal," the "Trinity
Sovereign," and the laying down of the " Great
Harry " coincided with the rise to power of the
" King's Almoner" ?
And can it have been only a coincidence that
then, for the first time, there was enunciated that
principle or axiom on which rested the very ground-
work and foundation of all Wolsey's Foreign Policy
— avoidance of military enterprises on the Con-
tinent and peace and amity with France — the prin-
ciple that "when we enlarge ourselves, let it be
that way we can, and to which Providence hath
destined us " —the Sea ?
True, no great minister, bent on building up
170 England's First Great War Minister
a mighty fleet for his country's safety and her
expanding needs, ever got a better backing from his
sovereign than did Wolsey from Henry VIII, who
himself, from his earliest youth, seems to have had
a true English love for the sea and ships.
But assuredly it was the great minister, with his
imaginative genius, clear, bold, far-reaching, lofty,
ardent, who conceived the idea, which grew into all
that is implied for an Englishman in those two
simple words, " England's Navy ! " — splendid, heroic
service and self-sacrifice, nobly and generously ren-
dered ; our island-home inviolate ; our liberties and
equal justice safeguarded and ever-spreading ; world-
wide dominions, sea-linked, and freedom-welded,
never to be sundered— all drawn together and ex-
pressed in those simple, thrilling words — " England's
Navy ! "
The transporting of the first part of Wolsey 's
" New Army," which should have been begun in
the middle of May, was in effect duly and success-
fully accomplished at the end of that month. It had
been decreed that the Army should, according to
military usage, be divided into three Divisions or
Army Corps, of roughly 12,000 to 14,000 men each,
namely — the " Fore Ward," or " Van," or " Vaunt-
Guard "; the "Rear- Ward"; and the "Middle-
Ward," or " Battaile." The infantry was directed
Transporting the New Army 171
to cross mainly from Southampton, and the cavalry
from Dover and Sandwich ; and it was the " Fore
Ward " which first landed at Calais under the com-
mand of the Lord Steward the Earl of Shrewsbury.
As to the units which this division was composed
of, the documents contain many interesting particu-
lars. One of the most curious, in the Record Office,
sets out : " The Retinue of Sir Sampson Norton,
Master of the Ordnance," which included, besides
ordinary fighting men, a miscellaneous assemblage
of clerks, twelve in number, with a "clerk comp-
troller," and smiths, masons, carpenters, sawyers,
gunners, fletchers, purveyors, carters, pioneers,
miners, wheelers, bow-string makers, "serpentine
shooters and curtow shooters," etc., all in uniform,
armed, and liable to be sent into the fighting line ;
also surgeons and chaplains, making a total of 1079.
Then there was the personal retinue of the
Lieutenant-General of the Vanguard, Shrewsbury
himself ; and the contingents captained by the various
great nobles, who had been allotted to that division,
with their ' ' petty captains " — the Earl of Derby, for
instance, with his 511 retainers, and Sir Rhys Ap
Thomas, a great Welsh landowner, and a splendid
fighter, who captained no less than 2993. Besides
many others who contributed smaller contingents,
there were 1050 " hired horse," and on their arrival
172 England's First Great War Minister
in the English pale they were to be joined by 2500
" Almayns," making a total for the " Vanguard "
division of just about 10,000 men.
Another interesting contemporary document, in
the British Museum, sets down the composition of
the whole Vanguard in full detail, giving the name
of each " grand captain" or " captain " and of his
" petty captain," and the counties which they haled
from ; and the standards of the leaders borne before
them, with their coats-of-arms and badges ; and all
the colours thereof — affording one a vivid idea of
the picturesque aspect of an army on the march in
the olden time.
For an example of how the units of the feudal
lords were composed we may cite the case of the
115 men required to be found and commanded by
Lord Hastings — the King's summons to that peer
happening to be preserved. The King, after re-
minding him that by former letters he had com-
manded him "to be in readiness with sixty archers
and forty billmen apparelled for war," now informs
him of the cause of his present military undertaking,
which is to proceed against the French King and to
observe his treaties with his allies.
Accordingly, " he has appointed the said lord
amongst others to pass over in the ' forward ' under
the Earl of Shrewsbury, Steward of the Household.
Transporting the New Army 173
He is to have shipping for six horses for himself ;
two for his captain, one for his petty-captain ; two
sumpter horses ; and one for a chaplain ; all to be
provided by himself, and to meet at Dover or
Sandwyche before the 8th of May next."
It is obvious from this that in those days the
ownership of land in England was far from being
without its burdens and responsibilities in time of
war.
The " Foreward " or " Vanguard " was soon
followed by the " Rear Ward " under another Court
official, Lord Herbert, afterwards Earl of Worcester,
then Lord Chamberlain, whom, it is surprising to
hear of as holding, like the Lord Steward, a high
military command, associating that office, as we do,
with merely ceremonial and decorative functions.
But it was not without reason and significance
that the two most responsible positions in the
King's new army were entrusted, not to powerful
nobles like the Duke of Buckingham, or the Earls of
Derby, Northumberland and Kent, but to close
intimates of the Sovereign, holding domestic offices
about his person. The great lords, however, served
in subordinate positions as " Captains," or " Grand
Captains," each leading his own " muster:" there
being in the " Rear Ward" 25 peers, besides the
Lord Chamberlain who himself captained 1067 men ;
174 England's First Great War Minister
and besides other landlords, who were not peers,
their contingents varying from as many as 519 to
only 54 ; so that altogether the landlords contributed
about 6000 men to this division of the army.
As an example of the pay they received, we may
cite a receipt, still preserved in the Record Office,
of the Earl of Northumberland, "grand captain of
his own retinue, to Sir Rob1 Dymok, treasurer of
the King's Rear Ward, for .£439 gs. %d. — being a
month's wages for himself and his retinue."
In addition to the captains and their retinues, the
" Rear Ward " included " 900 ordnance, 1000 horse-
men strangers," and many hundreds of Almayns
awaiting them on the other side of the Channel ; so
that it must have totalled altogether round about
11,000 men.
The Almayn mercenaries, otherwise called
Landsknechts or Lansquenets, came through
Flanders — by way of Brussels apparently — and
joined the English forces at or near Calais, which
they reached chiefly by sea from Antwerp, and partly
by land through Ghent and Bruges.
175
CHAPTER XV.
THE MIDDLE OR KING'S WARD THE ROYAL HOUSE-
HOLD IN " WHITE AND GREEN."
The Middle or King's Ward — Concentrated round Dover — Con-
veyed to Calais — Four Hundred Transports — Henry's " Great Ships
of War Scour every Coast" — Composition of the King's Ward —
Retinues of some Great Lords — The King's Own Guard — Wolsey's
own Regiment of 200 Fighting Men — Combatant Churchmen — Don't
dress up in " white and green " — No Hypocritical Whimperings — No
"Superiority of Moral Outlook" — No Impertinences from Canting
Pedagogues — The Royal Household Uniformed and Armed — Minstrels
and Players in " White and Green " — Total of the Ward 15,000 Men
— Wages of Officers and Men — Liveries and Uniforms — " Coat and
Conduct Money "—A Great Northern Army—" Malice of the Deceitful
Scots "—Their " Olde Prankes."
V/^|"OLSEY, having carried out, as we have
described, the transportation of the first two
divisions of the Army, was next busily engaged with
the concentration at Dover and the conveyance
thence over to Calais of what was the most important
part — the Head Quarters Division in fact — of the
" King's New Army Royal." This was the " Middle
Ward," or " King's Ward," as it was otherwise
called, under the personal command of King Henry
himself.
176 England's First Great War Minister
Whilst these operations were in progress, during
the last fortnight in June, the King was staying at
Dover Castle, making arrangements for the govern-
ment of the country in his absence, and taking an
active personal part, we make no doubt, in all that
was going on. And there were not only the move-
ments of his soldiers to interest him, but also those
of the transports — 400 in number — in the harbour or
at anchorage outside, collected together to help in
carrying the troops over the Straits.
There, too, were "all the Noble King of
England's great ships of war, which had for some
weeks been on the sea scouring every coast of his
realm," ready to cover and shepherd the transports
across ; and when that was completed, to bear the
precious freight of " the King's Most Royal Person,"
together with his military staff, his councillors and
the officers of his household, over to Calais. Sec-
tions of the fleet had already convoyed " the artillery
and habiliments of war " in 300 hoys (lighters), pur-
veyed by Sir John Wiltshire, Comptroller of Calais,
collected from the ports of Antwerp, Bruges, Dunkirk
and Gravelines.
As to the composition of the " Middle Ward " —
that is to say, the branches of the military forces of
the Crown represented in it ; the names of the com-
manders of the various contingents ; the number of
The Middle or Kings Ward 177
men under each of them ; and the pay of officers
and men — details are to be found in great fullness in
a series of very interesting " War Office " documents
among the national archives.
Of the grand captains and captains, with the
number of their retinues, we have very precise in-
formation furnished by several interesting papers
and parchment rolls — among them one especially,
now preserved, though in rather a mutiliated condi-
tion, in the British Museum, which was carefully
revised by Wolsey himself, and shows his correc-
tions and additions in his own hand. The total of
fighting men was exactly 9466.
At the head of the list comes the King's chief
favourite and boon companion, Sir Charles Brandon,
a fortnight before created Viscount Lisle, and in the
following year Duke of Suffolk, who afterwards
married Henry's sister Mary, widow of Louis XII
of France. Brandon's force was the largest of all —
900 men. Others were : the Duke of Buckingham,
executed for treason in 1521, with 500 men ; and
the Lord Burgeveny (Abergavenny) and Sir Edward
Ponynges, Comptroller of the Household and Lord
Warden of the Cinque Ports, each the same.
The Lord Darcy, afterwards one of Wolsey 's
bitterest enemies, and Sir William Compton, Groom
of the Stole and of the King's chamber, and one of
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178 England's First Great War Minister
his intimate friends, each had retinues of 400 men,
and the Lord Willoughby, of 200 men.
Smaller contingents were furnished by others,
among whom interesting historically are : Sir Henry
Wyatt, father of Sir Thomas Wyatt the poet, 100
men ; Sir Thomas Boleyn and Sir John Seymour-
two of Henry VIII's future fathers-in-law, a third,
Sir Thomas Parr, being in the Foreward — also 100
each ; and Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlecote Park,
grandfather of Shakespeare's enemy, 50 men.
Then there were 1000 " spearmen," apparently
enlisted independently of any of the great landlords ;
also " The Banner of the Household, with the com-
pany assigned thereto, 800 men " ; and lastly " The
King with his own guard of 600 men."
From other documents we learn that Fox Bishop
of Winchester as Lord Privy Seal, and Ruthal of
Durham as Secretary of State, each captained 100
fighting men, and Wolsey, as " Master Almoner,"
200.
But it does not appear that any of these com-
batant churchmen ever wore, even when at the front,
any other garb than their own usual, plain, eccle-
siastical one. As to any bishop, who remained in
England in his diocese, thinking, on the strength of
a week-end jaunt to Calais, of dressing up in " white
and green," and thus attired strutting about the
The Royal Household in " White and Green " 179
streets of London, or even attending the House of
Lords ! well — the mere idea of such a thing would
have seemed to the people of those times so ridiculous,
as not even to be thought of !
And as, on the one hand, none of the clergy —
not even the combatant bishops — indulged in any
foolish masqueradings in soldiers' uniform, so, on
the other hand, never came from their lips, we may
be sure, any miserable, hypocritical whimperings
about the war being " a punishment from God for
the nation's sins " ; or about the need for " days of
national humiliation " ; or any unctuous whinings of
that sort.
On the contrary, all their utterances, we make
no doubt, were in the same strong, patriotic vein as
are those of the overwhelming majority of the clergy
now, about the greater war of to-day, and its causes
and issues. Nor would a single one of them, we may
be sure, have so disgraced his cloth as to affect a
singularity of attitude of this sort, which, in the
pharisaical complacency of his own mind, might
make him stand out, as exhibiting " a superiority of
moral outlook " over the rest of his fellow-clerics
and countrymen.
Nor, we may be equally sure, would there have
been found throughout the length and breadth of
the land in those days, one single reverend school-
N 2
180 England's First Great War Minister
master, who, adopting towards his King and country
a canting, pedagogic tone of that sort, should have
had the impertinence to lecture them on the superior
merits of their foes, and the duty of giving up, say,
Jersey, as a sign of penitence. Had there been
such a one, we may be no less sure, that he would
himself have had a lesson given him harder than
any he himself had ever taught ; and have got a
bigger whipping than he had ever given to any
little boy, which he would have remembered to the
last day of his life.
Passing from the purely military components of
the King's Ward, there were many semi-civilian
officials accompanying the King, representative of,
and in some cases the whole staff of, every depart-
ment of the State, as well as the whole of the Royal
Household. They were, most of them, " in white
and green," and being armed and ready to fight, had
probably as good reason to wear the King's uniform
as many a man in our day to be seen in Whitehall
or Pall Mall, who, though a mere civilian doing
purely civilian work, has managed "to get into
khaki."
Among many such were the "Grooms and Pages
of the Privy Chamber," the " Knights and Squires
of the Body," "the Clerk of the Council," the
" Gentlemen Ushers and Sewers " ; even the King's
The Royal Household in " White and Green' 181
Latin Secretary, Andrea Ammonius — with his four
assistants — who wrote to his friend and corre-
spondent, Erasmus, " ludicrous accounts of his life
in camp " ; also the " King's luter," or lutanist,
Peter de Brescia (Carmelianus), " whose bad taste
and false quantities furnished endless jokes" for
the great humanist ; and even the " King's minstrels
and players " to the number of ten — all in the Royal
uniform or livery of " white and green." The
" Priests and Singers of the King's Chapel," who
numbered 115, wore, of course, only their clerical
garb, with perhaps a white and green baldrick.
By these additions of the civilian establishments
and the King's personal suite, the total of his
" ward " was swelled to 14,032 men — apart, appar-
ently, from several contingents not enumerated when
the lists were drawn up, and irrespective, it would
seem, of the units, which had already crossed the
Channel in advance — the pioneers, gunners, and
" spears on horseback " ; likewise, of course, the
Almayn mercenaries, who joined up with the main
body soon after its landing at Calais. These made
the grand total up to 15,000 — the precise number
at which Henry himself put his own " ward " in a
letter he wrote from Dover the day before he
crossed the Channel.
We may here note what was the pay — or
1 82 England's First Great War Minister
" wages," as the expression then was — allowed to
the officers and men, in all three "wards" of the
New Army. The "grand captains" — that is, the
greater landowners who contributed contingents of
many hundreds of men — received for themselves
65-. %d. a day ; for their captains, 43. ; and for each
petty captain, 25. a day.
Common soldiers, including carters, gunners, and
" men assigned to carriages and horses," were paid
6d. a day. But archers, master gunners, " ordnance
men," loaders, pioneers, and yeomen carters, were
paid 8df. a day ; and likewise skilled artizans, such
as wheelwrights, carpenters, and smiths, the same ;
whereas " demi-lances " received 9^., and "spears"
as much as is. 6d. a day. Eightpence a day, on
the other hand, were the wages of the surgeons, as
we have already noted on an earlier page, and of the
chaplains, as well as of the foreign mercenaries—
Almayns, Burgundians and Picards.
As to the uniforms or liveries worn : the cap-
tains were each given by the King a "coat" of
green and white damask for themselves ; and for
their petty captains a similarly coloured coat of
" camlet" (a stuff half silk, woven in with camel's or
goat's hair, and later with wool), while for each
of the rank and file of the " New Army " they
received from His Grace's Exchequer 4^. for a
The Royal Household in " While and Green' 183
"coat of good woolen cloth." These " coats "—of
course of white and green — were, it would seem,
worn over the ordinary " harness " or livery of the
lord or captain, which was apparently furnished by
him to his retinue, and which cost from 8s. to us.
the suit for each man.
Payment was also made by the Crown at the
rate of 6d. a day, or \\d. a mile, for "conduct
money " —that is, marching expense for each man
joining his regiment or returning home.
Such was the composition and internal economy
of the Middle Ward mustered in and about Dover
ready to pass over to Calais, under the personal
command of the King of England, to make war on
his cousin Louis, " King of the French," as Henry
liked to call him, in contradistinction to himself as
the real and true " King of France" — in spite of his
father-in-law's sneer, who striking the words out of
the draft of the treaty submitted to him, said : " the
title, ' King of France,' without the possession of
France is an empty phrase."
It can well be imagined that the gathering to-
gether and marshalling of so huge and miscellaneous
a collection of men and material, considering the
slow and difficult transport and communication of
those times, and the sheltering and feeding of large
numbers in the narrow limits and outskirts of a
184 England's First Great War Minister
small mediaeval fortified town — in addition to the
victualling of 25,000 men on the other side of the
Channel — must have taxed to the utmost the
organizing ability of Wolsey, who was supremely
responsible to his exacting master for the smooth
running of the whole military machine. Yet every
man in the great force was in his place, every article
of arms or ammunition ready at hand, and everything
moving like clockwork and without a hitch.
Moreover, in addition to this main army, we
must bear in mind that there was also a " Northern
Army " of some 30,000 men, retained in England to
guard the border "against the malice of the
deceitful Scots," as the old English chronicler puts
it, who, he declares, were at their " old prankes "
again, ever ready, on any pretext, when the English
were fighting abroad, to invade a friendly kingdom,
with which they pretended to be at peace.
This army, under the command of the old Earl
of Surrey, then seventy years of age, soon after
won the Battle of Flodden, where James IV of
Scotland was killed. In the quality of the men and
their training, it was an army quite equal to the
greater one, which crossed over to France ; though
not in organization or equipment.
CHAPTER XVI.
FOREIGN IMPRESSIONS OF THE NEW ARMY AND
ITS KING.
Letters of Venetian Merchants in London — A Total of Sixty
Thousand Combatants — "Men who resemble Giants" — "Choicer
Troops not seen for Years " — " Cannon fit to Conquer Hell ! "—High
Quality and Lofty Character of the New Army — Of the Temper and
Spirit of the " New Model " and " Kitchener's Men "— " To Battle as
to a Sport or Game " — Pasqualigo's Intimate Knowledge of England
and the English — His Enthusiastic Comments — Tavern Gossip — " Our
King Harry is going to Paris " — " Will be crowned King of France "
— General Admiration for Henry — His Courage — "Handsomest
Potentate ever seen " — Not what " Henry the Eighth " calls up to us —
An Ideal "Prince Charming" — Hall's Glowing Panegyric — The
Richness and Splendour of the King and his Nobles — The Soldiers
all Picked Men.
*TC3OR the deep impression made on foreigners
by Henry's grand army — so admirably drilled,
so wonderfully weaponed, so splendidly equipped and
*so generously provided — we have valuable and in-
dependent testimony in the despatches of the foreign
agents at the Court of Westminster, besides the
private letters of several Venetian merchants trading
in London.
One of these last, the already mentioned Antonio
1 86 England's First Great War Minister
Bavarin, the factor of the Pisaro firm, writing to
his principals the Pisari in Venice, estimated " the
Vanguard under the Lord Steward " at 16,000 men ;.
"the Rear- Ward under the Lord Chamberlain " at
14,000 men; and "the King's Ward" at 12,000
men — not including "Burgundians, Picards, Germans,
and Switzers," already collected in and near the
English pale, "to the number of 20,000," "which
will raise the total," he said, " at the disposal of
the King of England to some 60,000 combatants " —
"men," he says elsewhere, " who resemble giants."
"Choicer troops," he adds, "in more perfect
order, have not been seen for years. Amongst them
are from 9,000 to 10,000 heavy barbed cavalry and
8,000 light horse; the infantry includes 14,000
archers, and there are 2,000 mounted bowmen."
In another letter he speaks of " 6,000 halberdiers,
and also 12,000 men armed with a weapon never
seen until now — six feet in length, surmounted by
a ball with six steel spikes. They have much
ordnance and other innumerable appliances." In
his first quoted letter he adds : " Others have long
spears, halberts and axes ; and cannon that would
suffice to conquer Hell ! "
Another Italian, of uncertain name, but probably
di Favri, writing during the campaign, pays this
high tribute to the quality and character of the
Foreign Impressions of the New Army 187
English army : " They are efficient troops, well
accoutred — not bare-footed like those of Italy-
men who did not go to rob, but to gain honour,
and who marched at their own cost " — meaning
thereby, apparently, that they did not maintain
themselves in the enemy's country by pillage and
robbery, but with their own supplies. " They did
not take wenches with them ; and they are not
profane swearers, like our soldiers. Indeed there
were few who failed to recite daily the office of Our
Lady's rosary."
In essence and in temper, it is clear, Henry's
New Army was of the same type as those of the
two Edwards and of Henry V ; in spirit the same
as Cromwell's " Ironsides," the " New Model Men " ;
and " Kitchener's Men" — men whom every fresh
atrocity of Prussian " frightfulness " sent flocking to
the colours, of their own free will, in their hundreds
of thousands, urged on by hatred of injustice and
cruelty, and inspired with a high and noble resolve
to vindicate the cause of human right and freedom-
going forth with that gay, joyous spirit, which made
a foreign observer, in 1513, declare that English
soldiers " went into battle, as though they were
going to a sport or game."
A very similar account of Henry's New Army
was given by Lorenzo Pasqualigo, another Venetian
1 88 England's First Great War Minister
merchant settled in London, where he had already-
resided some fourteen years, where he acted as
Venetian consul, and where he eventually amassed
a very large fortune by the trade he carried on
between England and his native city.
Writing about this time to his brothers Alvise and
Francesco in the city of canals — in the course of a
continuous correspondence, fortunately preserved to
us, which he kept up for many years, and in which
he exhibits much acuteness of observation, a
remarkable knowledge of English public and private
affairs, and a rare insight into the workings of the
English mind — he says : " I am of opinion that
the French will not dare to show themselves, as the
English would give them the worst of it — as is
their wont. The King says he will cross with as
great power as any of his predecessors, and with
such pomp and outlay of money, of which he has
no lack, that the like was never seen."
And Pasqualigo knew, if anybody did, besides
Wolsey, what King Henry's aspirations were ; for
he had a friend at court in the person of " William,"
the King's valet, or gentleman usher, to whom
Henry would talk freely, in his easy genial way,
while William was dressing him.
Then, after referring to the 10,000 lansquenets
and men-at-arms on horseback, whom the King was
Foreign Impressions of the King 189
obtaining from the province of Hainault and from
Germany, and who were already on the march, he
goes on : " The King is making such great pro-
vision for the war that it is a marvel ; and it is
said that he will go to Paris."
In fact, the gossips in the taverns of London
were already boasting that their gallant young
King Harry was going to emulate the famous
gestes of his heroic ancestor, the fifth of that name,
and that " he intended to go straight to the French
capital there to be crowned King of France " —
" which I heartily hope he will," says Pasqualigo,
who thoroughly identified himself with English
sentiment, sharing all the enthusiasm of the people
for their chivalrous young monarch, and their pride
in his great army. Indeed, so carried away was
he by the war-fever, then rampant in London, and
his own ardent admiration for Henry, that he
went so far as to declare : " He is the true King
of France, and deservedly so, for within the last
1000 years there has never been a King more noble
and more valiant. His courage is extreme ; and
may God save him, and give him victory and
happiness for his perfect comportments."
All the Pasqualigi, indeed, were enthusiastic
admirers of the King in every way. A brother of
Lorenzo's in a letter, written a little later, declares :
190 England's First Great War Minister
" His Majesty, is the handsomest potentate I ever
set eyes on. He is above the usual height, with
an extremely fine calf to his leg ; his complexion
very fair and bright, with auburn hair ; and a round
face, so very beautiful that it would become a pretty
woman, his throat being rather long and thick."
And they were not alone in their laudation.
" Love for the King," writes another Venetian about
the same time, " is universal with all who see him ;
for his Highness does not seem a person of this
world, but one descended from Heaven." This, and
much more, was not flattery meant for Henry's eye
or ear, but private information sent home by shrewd
and critical foreign diplomats and merchants.
The fact is that we in these days have some
difficulty in imagining how the King appeared to his
contemporaries in his earlier years — standing forth
to lead to victory the mightiest army that had ever
left these shores — we, to whom the words " Henry
the Eighth " suggest the idea of a cruel, ungrateful
tyrant, sending his most faithful servants to the
block ; ruthlessly slaying his noblest subjects ;
torturing and slaughtering monks and nuns ; burning
heretics and murdering his wives.
To us that name calls up not the vision of a
young hero, handsome, graceful and chivalrous ; but
the figure of an elderly man, gorgeously attired and
Foreign Impressions of the King 1 9 1
ostentatiously bejewelled, heavy in frame and broad-
shouldered, standing with arms a-kimbo and fat
legs apart, with podgy hands, a bull neck and a face
massive, not to say bloated — all denoting vigour and
power indeed, but latent ferocity and cunning still
more.
Yet we must remember that to all those who
beheld him in his youth — not to his own people only
— he stood forth as the ''beau id6al " of a Prince
Charming — noble, generous, frank, gay ; hasty, per-
haps, but withal essentially- good tempered and
debonair ; expert in all chivalrous and martial con-
tests ; skilled in every manly sport or game ; and
with all those bright qualities of mind and heart
expressed, almost idealized, in his own person — a
figure tall, strong and commanding — " the earth
seems to shake under him when he moves," writes
an attach^ at the Venetian Embassy in London in
this very year 151 3 — yet active, supple and graceful
as well.
Hear, for instance, the tribute paid him a few
years later by Gustiniani, the Venetian Ambassador,
in a secret memoir to the Doge and Seignory : "His
Majesty is extremely handsome. Nature could
not have done more for him. He isj much hand-
somer than any other sovereign in Christendom ;
a great deal handsomer than the King of France
192 England's First Great War Minister
(Francis I.) ; very fair, and his whole frame
admirably proportioned."
Evidently there was a good deal more than a
mere semblance of truth, and something beyond
patriotic adulation in Hall's panegyric on his hero,
which now sounds so extravagant to us. " The
features of his body," he exclaims, " his goodly
personage, his amiable visage, princely countenance
and the noble qualities of his Royal estate, to every
man knowen, needeth no rehearsal, considering that
for lack of cunning I cannot express the gifts of grace
and of nature that God hath endowed him withal."
No wonder that he — " the moste goodliest Prince
that ever reigned over this Realme of Englande " —
was at this period idolized by all : the more so that,
when taking supreme command of his Army, every-
thing was done to strike the imagination of his people,
and, at the same time, impress the minds of foreign
observers, by the parade of martial power and glory,
and by that pomp and splendour of pageantry, which
Wolsey — past master as he was in the art of spec-
tacular organization, directed to the presenting of
ordinary incidents in a dramatic form — knew so well
how to set forth. Especially did the wealth and
magnificence of the King and his nobles, the
" grand captains " of the New Army, amaze
foreigners.
Foreign Impressions of the New Army 193
"The valuables they take with them," declared
Bavarin, " are incredible. The housings of the
King's charger and the jewels around its head-
piece are alone worth 15,000 crowns! Never
has a finer sight been seen." And — inveterate
sightseer, as we know him to have been — he
had evidently beheld it all with his own eyes :
describing in another letter " the King's fourteen
good-conditioned horses, with housings of the
richest cloth of gold and crimson velvet, with
silver-gilt bells of great value, and so much other
costly trappings it would take too long to describe."
Again, in a letter, written after the Army had
all crossed the Channel, he says : " The King has
fourteen waggons with him loaded with money-
two millions of gold and four waggons of silver
coin — facts which sound like romance, but «vhich
are nevertheless true. The King has also other
innumerable riches."
And the King was far from being alone in his
wealth and magnificence. Thus does Hall describe,
with all his usual gusto and in a tone of rhapsody
as of an inspired tailor, altogether excelling any
modern descriptive reporting, the richness and bril-
liancy of the dress and trappings of the " grand
captains," who added to the glory and splendour of
their King when going with him, at the opening of
o
194 England's First Great War Minister
the campaign, to visit the Emperor Maximilian in
his camp at Aire on the river Lys.
" The noblemen of the King's camp were gor-
geously apparelled, their coursers barded of cloth of
gold, of damask and broderie, their apparel all tissue
cloth of gold and silver, and goldsmith's work, great
chains of baldericks of gold and bells of bullion ;
but in especial the Duke of Buckingham. He was
in purple satin, his apparel and his barde full of
antelopes and swans of fine gold bullion and full of
spangles and little bells of gold, marvellously costly
and pleasant to behold."
The King's own apparel, varied to suit each
separate occasion, we shall describe a little later on.
Such profusion of gorgeous garments and trap-
pings— of cloth of gold and of silver ; of silks and
satins ; of " goldsmith's work " and jewels — cost the
great nobles immense sums of money. Still more
so the King, whose personal suite were even more
superbly clad; so that his expenditure in 1513
alone, for such things, including spangles, chains,
buttons, aiglettes and embroidery for his henchmen
and others of his attendants, amounted, in modern
equivalents, to tens of thousands of pounds.
To us, in our more prosaic days of drab utility,
such splendid extravagance is apt to seem rather
foolish ; and strangely out of keeping as part of the
Foreign Impressions of the New Army 195
Royal equipment for a great war. But it was an
age of chivalry, when such things counted for much.
Even a great war was something of a tourna-
ment on a grand scale ; and a pitched battle often
little more than a series of encounters between the
" retinue " of this " captain " and the " gens d'armes "
of that " capitaine." During this very war of 1513,
in the skirmishes around Therouanne, French
Chevaliers and English Knights challenged one
another to single combat, their followers sometimes
doing little more than looking on in admiration. In
fighting of this sort the glamour of splendid panoply
was no small element in sustaining the " haulte
courage " of the combatants.
It likewise served another purpose. For it was
a mode of advertisement for the enlightment of
foreigners, as well as of the King's subjects, telling
them, in the most striking fashion, of his power and
splendour and glory ; of his grand army and his
long purse ; in an age in which news of such things
was almost entirely conveyed from mouth to mouth
— until they glowed and glistened in the imagination
of those who were far distant from the scene. The
method was different, but the object was the same
as our recruiting meetings and posters ; newspaper
articles and advertisements of Government securities ;
photographs and films of soldiers in the trenches.
o 2
196 England's First Great War Minister
Evidence of this we have already given : and there
is more.
On the eve of the King's departure for
Calais, Pasqualigo writes again to his brothers,
still in the same tone of enthusiasm : — " King
Henry's army will amount in all to some 50,000 or
60,000 men, as well supplied with arms and artillery
as any army ever has been. On the other side of
the channel they have also 2,500 steel-clad cavalry
(from the Province of Hainault), and also German
troops. The Army marches with all possible pomp
and the greatest courage. It is believed the French
will not wait for them in the field."
A report in a like strain was made by Badoer
to the Doge and Signory. After telling how
25,000 men had already been transported to France,
he proceeds : " The troops abroad landed at Calais
are all picked men, armed with corselets (body-
armour), bracelets (arm armour), sallets (helmets)
and gorgets (throat armour), and over their armour
a coat of white and green — the King's colours."
Testimony such as has been recited above, so
precise and consistent, coming independently from
several impartial and even critical observers of great
experience and shrewdness, is conclusive — confirm-
ing as it does the evidence of our own original State
papers — as to the size, the completeness, and the
high efficiency of King Henry's military forces.
Foreign Impressions of the New Army 197
And this gigantic and incomparable instrument of
war had been forged by the genius of an obscure
cleric for his Royal master in less than six months !
How thoroughly it was adapted for what it was
designed, and how effectively it stood the test of
battle, we have briefly indicated at the beginning
of this book, in our summary of its achievements,
which we will give a fuller outline of shortly.
How thoroughly, also, it was provided with all
those needful adjuncts, without which the mightiest
army may easily be paralyzed, the greatest genius in
military leadership rendered useless, the most heroic
courage thrown away, we have already set out.
That it did not accomplish more was due to
causes independent of, and in no way reflecting on,
its efficiency as a fighting force. Henry VIITs
New Army, like most armies, was an instrument of
statecraft, capable of exerting as much influence on
events and as much pressure on individuals, in the
domain of international politics, by its mere existence
— if astutely used — as when victorious in the field.
Had Wolsey and his master sought military
glory for its own sake, and had they really aspired,
then or at any time, to make great conquests, and to
seek extended dominions on the Continent, the Army
which the great minister had fashioned, might have
overrun half northern Europe — and overturned the
Tudor throne in doing so. They had other aims :
198 England's Fir si Great War Minister
partly, it is true, military prestige — then as always
no such mere empty phrase as some would have us
believe — partly aims chivalrous and almost idealistic ;
but mainly the plain practical one of resistance to
the predominance of any one Power on the Continent
of Europe, which infallibly would lead to the
destruction of the liberties of Europe, and as
infallibly end in being fatal to the independence of
these islands.
People spoke of " Christendom " and " the rights
of Princes" then: we talk of " Europe" and the
4< rights of nations " now. But the issue is in essence
the same : and Wolsey — while the creaking structure
of the mediaeval world was crumbling away to give
place to the modern — was the first English states-
man to apprehend its vital importance to the future
of his own island country.
Forseeing the need, he, with his penetrating
insight, quickly conceived the means whereby the
King of England should be able to hold the balance
— nothing less than the Balance of Power in Europe
— and to turn the scale against the aggressor — who-
ever he might be — as the common enemy of all the
Christian States of Christian Europe.
The means he sought and won were — adequate
land forces and a predominant Navy. How he
achieved his purpose we have already endeavoured
to show.
199
CHAPTER XVII.
HENRY VIII'S ARRIVAL AT CALAIS.
King Henry embarks at Dover — " A Goodly Passage " — An Official
" Eye- Witness " War Correspondent — His Valuable Diary in the
British Museum— Salutes from Ships and Fortifications — The King
enters Calais Haven — Lands, from a Boat, on the Quay — Received
by the Clergy in Procession — Henry's Striking Appearance — In
Glittering Armour and Cloth of Gold — The King's Henchmen — He
passes beneath the " Lantern Gate " — A Splendid Cavalcade — Wending
their Way along the Streets — Welcome from the Townsmen — Through
the Market Place — Merchants of the Staple honour their King —
Henry enters St. Nicholas's Church — His Offerings and Thanksgivings
—The Glamour of a " Holy War."
Henry, as we have already related in a
previous chapter, was staying with Queen
Katherine at Dover Castle, while the mustering of
the contingents composing the Middle Ward was
going on in the camp round the town ; and while
they were being transported across the Channel.
After a little further delay, waiting for a favourable
wind, "the King," says Hall, "took leave of the
Queen and of the ladies, which made such sorrow
for the departing of their Lords and husbands, that it
was great dolor to behold."
2OO England's First Great War Minister
Of the actual embarkation of the King in the
harbour, on the last day of June, and of the
vessel he was borne in, we can find no surviving
details. But we know that he, with his immediate
staff, ministers and attendants, went on board one
of those recently built great galleys, which had won
so much renown in the sea-fights off Brest and in
the western channel, and of which Henry and
Wolsey, the real founders of our English navy, were
so justly proud.
Equally certain may we be that as the great ship,
which bore him — perhaps the " Trinity Sovereign "
— weighed anchor and, convoyed by the whole fleet,
slowly and majestically moved out of Dover harbour,
he stood on deck, a prominent object in the eyes of
his loyal lieges enthusiastically cheering on the quay.
Thus he did seven years later, when he embarked
at the same spot for the Field of the Cloth of Gold—
an incident commemorated in the curious picture
painted for him at the time, ever since preserved in
the Royal collection, and now hanging in the State
Rooms of Hampton Court. Invaluable as a record
of the appearance of the great warships of Henry
VIITs Grand Fleet, it may be taken as an almost
identical representation of his embarkation of June
1513-
The wind which Henry had been waiting for,
Henry VII Ts Arrival at Calais 201
and which had blown a gale from the north the
whole day before — " with continued rain towards
evening " — must still have been blowing a stiffish
breeze, having veered perhaps somewhat to west-
ward, when the King's great ships sailed out into
the Channel. " For the wind was so," says Hall,
" that they were brought even on the coast of
Picardy, open upon St. John's Road " — a longish
way out of their course — though the King is re-
ported to have had "a goodly passage." "With
the flood they haled along the coast of Whitsand
(Wissant — halfway between Cap Grisnez and Cap
Blanc Nez, about ten miles from Boulogne and the
same from Calais), with trumpets blowing and guns
shooting, to the great fear of them of Boulogne,
which plainly might behold this passage ; and so
they came to Calais haven."
King Henry's arrival, which took place at seven
o'clock — about an hour and a half before sunset —
was witnessed from the walls of the town by John
Taylor, who was Clerk of the Parliaments, and one
of the King's chaplains, and who, acted as a sort of
official reporter or "war correspondent," throughout
the whole of the campaign. He records in his very
curious and interesting diary, preserved in the
British Museum, that " as the fleet — such as Neptune
never saw before — approached the harbour it was
2O2 England's First Great War Minister
saluted with such firing of guns from the ships and
from the towers of the fortifications you would have
thought the world was coming to an end." Hall,
too, says : " To tell of the gun-shot of the town and
of the ships at the King's landing it was a great
wonder, for men of good estimation reported that
they heard it at Dover."
" The King," continues Hall — ever a faithful
recorder of those little circumstances, which so
greatly aid one in trying to form a vivid imaginative
picture of historic scenes, and which, though they
may be trivial enough, yet serve to invest the past
with something of the charm and interest of romance
— " The King," he says, "was received into a boat
covered with arras, and so was set on land."
"He was apparelled in Almain rivet (flexible
armour of overlapping plates sliding on rivets)
crested, and his vanbrace (armour for the front of
the arm) of the same ; on his head a ' chapeau
montabyn ' (a casque of polished steel, of the exact
shape as now worn by the poilus), with a rich coronal ;
the fold of the chapeau was lined with crimson satin,
and on that a rich brooch with the image of Saint
George, Over his rivet he had a garment of white
cloth of gold with a red cross ; and so he was received
with procession and with his deputy of Calais, called
Sir Gilbert Talbot, and all other nobles and gentle-
Henry VIIFs Arrival at Calais 203
men of the town and country ; and so entered in
at the Lantern Gate, and passed the streets till he
came to Saint Nicholas's Church."
So writes our picturesque chronicler, who must
have derived his information from hearsay or some
documents not available to us. His account is
confirmed and amplified by Taylor, who being a
spectator in the streets must himself have seen the
King pass by, with Wolsey by his side, in plain
cassock, riding on his mule — as we may see him
now in the picture of " The Field of the Cloth of
Gold."
The procession of the clergy of the town went
before him, doubtless in their richest copes and
vestments, headed by a sub-deacon bearing the
processional cross, and preceded by the choir in red
cassocks and surplices, chanting psalms or anthems,
and by acolytes holding tapers and lanterned candles,
and swinging silver censers.
Closely attendant on the King on this occasion
would be his nine henchmen, bearing his " pieces of
harness, every one mounted on a great courser,"
one with his helmet, another with his spear, another
with his axe, and so on ; so that " every one had
some thing belonging to a man of arms." Their
apparel was superb — " white cloth of gold and
crimson cloth of gold, richly embroidered with gold-
204 England's First Great War Minister
smith's work ; the trappers of the coursers were
mantell harness coulpened" — which, whatever it may
mean, certainly has a sort of mysterious picturesque-
ness about it — " and in every vent a long bell of
gold bullion, which trappers were very rich."
Thus did the splendid cavalcade of intermingled
ecclesiastics, councillors, soldiers, ministers and
officials pass from the quay through the " Lantern
Gate " —then the principal entrance to the fortress,
with a " lantern " above it, serving as a beacon for
ships making for the port. Standing somewhat to
the rear of the spot where now stands the gate
built by Richelieu in 1625, it was finally demolished
in 1895. It will, however, always be remembered
by Hogarth's picture, now in the National Gallery,
and the well-known engravings therefrom.
Then the procession wended its way along the
old streets, thronged by the towns-people, mostly
descendants of the English colonists planted there
by Edward III, mainly from Kent, a hundred and
sixty-six years before, offering their respectful but
enthusiastic homage to their mighty lord and master
on his setting foot in his great fortress of the English
pale, and taking formal possession of his " Key to
France."
And as he progressed along the narrow, crowded
streets, gay with coloured stuffs and costly tapestries
Henry VIITs Arrival at Calais 205
hung out on the walls of the overarching-gabled
houses, the kerchiefs of many a fair daughter of the
rich merchants of the ''Staple" must have waved
from the windows a joyous welcome to the young
monarch riding below on his superbly caparisoned
charger, resplendent in his suit of glittering "Almain
rivet," his coat of cloth of gold, his shining " chapeau
montabyn," (made at Montauban), with its coronal
studded with precious gems.
Men, indeed, as well as women, must have
gazed on him with awe and admiration. For their
loyalty and curiosity had been excited to the highest
pitch by the glowing descriptions of him given by
the thousands of men " in white and green," who
for weeks had been continuously landing and passing
in endless streams through the town on their way to
the front. And now, here, before their very eyes,
was he, their King, with the heads of his splendid
Army : he, who was to lead the whole mighty host
to victory against their ever-threatening neighbours
and dreaded enemies — the French.
Small wonder then if the good people of Calais
had looked forward with eager loyalty to the great
day of the coming of the King into their midst. And
assuredly the reality did not fall short of their ex-
pectation, when that " goodly personage " with his
" amiable visage " and " princely countenance" burst
206 England's First Great War Minister
upon their view, riding forth from under the arch of
the Lantern Gate, the central figure in the splendid
throng, attired as we have already described him,
into " Lantern Gate Street " (now Rue de la Cloche),
through that into the " Market Place " (now Place
d'Armes), past the Town Hall and the old " Staple
Hall " ; where now stands part of the modern Hotel
de Ville, behind which still rises the lofty Watch-
Tower — " La Tour du Guet "-—dating from 1214.
In front of the " Staple Hall " — which was a
very beautiful structure, somewhat in the style of
the now Hun-destroyed Cloth Hall of Ypres — were
drawn up, in accordance with custom when their
Sovereign came to visit his continental fortress,
" the Mayor and Merchants of the Staple, well
apparelled," to greet his Majesty. From the
Market Place the procession turned off westward
into " St. Nicholas Street " (now Rue de la Citadelle)
— the middle of the three arteries of the town
running east and west — along which it went until it
reached the great church of St. Nicholas, which was
situated at the west end of the town just where the
Rue de la Citadelle now terminates, and stood in
the midst of its own churchyard.
Unfortunately that ancient edifice, one of the
most interesting, historically, in old Calais — especially
to English people — has long since ceased to exist.
Henry VIIFs Arrival at Calais 207
It had been built during the English occupation—
in the latter end of the fourteenth century, and con-
sequently in the early Perpendicular style — and it
vied with, if it did not surpass, in size, beauty and
splendour, the church of " Our Lady " — the still
remaining Notre Dame, in the eastern quarter of
the fortress, mainly dating from an earlier period.
It was in 1564, that is six years after the reconquest
of Calais by the French under the Due de Guise,
that the old church of St. Nicholas, with all its
records, tombs and memorials of the English masters
of the Pale, was swept away. Its site was even-
tually covered by the eastern portion of the citadelle,
built by order of Richelieu in 1625, which still
stands to-day.
Arriving at the great western entrance of the
church, just as the day was waning, Henry and the
whole procession entered in ; and the King " there
alighted and offered," that is, he made offerings of
thanksgiving — money to the church and its clergy,
and prayers to God and His saints — for the safe
passage of himself and his Army across the perilous
seas, dedicating both to the service of the Almighty
and;of His Church, in the great enterprise he was
entering on in vindication of the rights of the Holy
See against the sacrilegious insolence of Louis XII.
By the solemn service in St. Nicholas's, and by
2o8 England's First Great War Minister
such acts of thanksgiving and piety as we have
recounted, Henry undoubtedly sought to sanctify
himself and his purpose in the eyes of all men, and
to impress the whole Christian world with the
chivalrous and heroic, not to say sacred character,
of his expedition to France, and to invest it with
something of the glamour of that very old, but ever
new, pretence — a Holy War.
And there, kneeling before the altar of St.
Nicholas, with his great minister by his side, we will
leave him.
2O9
CHAPTER XVIII.
OUTLINES OF THE CAMPAIGN.
Wolsey's Functions at the Front — Corresponds with Queen
Katherine — " An Obstinate Man who rules Everything " — Henry and
his Soldiers on the March — Germans indulge in a little " Kultur " —
Henry hangs Three of Them — Arrival before TheVouanne —
Mutineering Mercenaries — The King of England's " Apostles " begin
to preach — The Battle of Spurs — The Chevalier Bayard made
Prisoner — Chivalrous Courtesies between French and English — Old
France and the New France — Fall of TheVouanne — Its Marvellous
System of Trenches — Intended Use of Poisonous Gas — Fortifications
blown up and levelled — More Hun " Frightfulness " — King Henry's
March to Lille — His Triumphal Entry — Siege of Tournay — Its
Surrender — Wolsey builds Miles of Huts for the Army — Too Generous
Tommy Atkins — End of the Campaign — Henry and his Army return
to England.
the circumstances and details of the cam-
paign that ensued soon after Henry's arrival
in Calais — interesting and curious though they are —
we have not space to enter now. With the landing
of the " New Army " in France some of Wolsey's
functions came to an end ; others became less im-
portant, or at any rate less prominent ; though he
continued as active as ever in the organization of
commissariat and the supply of military stores of
all sorts.
2io England's First Great War Minister
Strategy and Tactics he wisely left to trained,
practical soldiers — so far as there were any among
those in command. Moreover, as Captain of 200
fighting men, he had his own small part to play in
active service ; though whether he was ever actually
under fire is not recorded.
But he was ever by King Henry's side, as con-
fidential adviser and universal minister — especially
in diplomatic negotiations with the allies — exercising
a general administrative control over everything.
So much so, that one of the Duchess Margaret's
emissaries — a sort of military attache, who met
Wolsey before Therouanne — complained of him as
" an obstinate man who rules everything " — one, in
fact, who would not mould his policy and schemes,
and sacrifice his master's interests, just to suit the
game of his Imperial ally.
And throughout the whole campaign he was
constantly writing to Katherine of Arragon, giving
her a full report of everything that happened, and
what the King did, and how he was — which the
Queen was deeply anxious about.
He was, of course, a near witness, too, of all
the incidents of the campaign — some of which
have such a strange interest for us at the present
time. He was probably with the King when, on
the first night of their march out from Calais a
Outlines of the Campaign 2 1 1
storm having overturned the tents and drenched
the men, Henry, " not putting off his clothes, rode
round at 3 o'clock in the morning comforting the
soldiers, saying, ' Well, boys, now that we have
suffered in the beginning, fortune promises us better
things, God willing ! '
He must also have been advising the King a
few days later when, on entering French territory
and occupying the frontier fortress of Ardres, " some
citadels were mischievously burned by his Almayns,
who," records Taylor, "did not respect even the
churches." Henry, who had no idea of the sanctity
of his cause being degraded by sacrilege, or his
high reputation for chivalry being sullied by " fright-
fulness," by any soldiers fighting under his standard,
even though they were German mercenaries acting
as usual after their kind, promptly, says our report-
ing eyewitness, " had three of them hanged that
night."
A little later on, when " an affray, in which
many were killed on both sides," took place between
the English and the Germans in the King's pay,
and when the mutineering mercenaries seized the
guns and turned them on Henry and his staff,
Wolsey must have been by his master's side at that
most thrilling moment. The trouble was quelled,
we are told, by the tact of the English officers ; but
p 2
212 England's First Great War Minister
that it should have arisen we cannot be surprised,
knowing what the English soldier has ever been,
and what the unchanging Boche is, and always has
been, in all periods of his history.
These three incidents we have on the authority
of the same eyewitness, whose minute record is an
admirable specimen of war correspondence and
descriptive reporting.
Wolsey must have been with the King too when
he arrived before Therouanne — then the principal
fortress in the north of France, and the main obstacle
barring the progress of a hostile army advancing
into the interior of the country towards Paris — when
the King's or Middle Ward joined the two other
divisions, the Vanguard and Rear Ward, in the
investment and siege of the town.
" Master- Almoner " must have witnessed the
boyish delight of his young sovereign, when his
Grace's eleven " apostles " began to preach in tones
of thunder to the beleaguered garrison.
Again he must have been by Henry's side during
the " Battle of Spurs " — with his own 200 men,
perhaps, in action — when a large French force, mainly
consisting of cavalry, coming to revictual the great
stronghold, was defeated, and the Due de Longue-
ville, a cousin of the King of France, many other
great French nobles, and above all the Chevalier
Outlines of the Campaign 2 1 3
Bayard were taken prisoners ; much materiel also
falling into the King of England's hands. He may
have been present when Henry received " Le bon
Chevalier " in a most gracious and affectionate
manner, " embracing him as if he had been a prince,"
commending his superb gallantry and his renowned
chivalry ; while pleasantly chaffing him in a friendly
manner about the precipitate retreat of his country-
men, saying , " Jamais n'avoit veu gens si bien fuyr."
To this Bayard replied : " Sur mon ame la gendar-
merie de France n'en doit aucunement estre blasmde
car ilz avoient expres commandement de leurs
capitaines de ne combattre point."
Of this interview and the mutual exchange of
chivalrous courtesies, ending in Henry's treating
" Le Bon Chevalier sans Paour et sans Reproche "
as a guest of the highest distinction, and setting him
free on his parole, we have three distinct charming
accounts in that delightful old French, which breathes
the very spirit of old France — and the very spirit of
that new France of " L'union Sacree," whose
heroism has helped so much to rouse England to
play a part worthy of her own great past in the new
Crusade.
Wolsey must also have been by Henry's side
when, after the fall of Therouanne, they examined
the wonderful system of deep trenches with cross
214 England's First Great War Minister
galleries by which it was defended, " made with
timber and earth," disguised by being ''gaily wooded
upon the banks and bushed with quickset in every
corner, . . . and in certain places of the said
trenches sundry deep pits for to have made
fumigations, to the intent that men upon the
assaulting of the same should have been poisoned
and stopped!'
Thus wrote one of the Welsh officers, encamped
before Th^rouanne, to a patron or friend, the Earl
of Devon, then an officer on board one of the great
galleys — "The Trinity" — of King Henry's Grand
Fleet.
As no assault was made on the fortress — its
garrison surrendering on terms that they should
evacuate it with all the honours of war — the plan of
using poisonous gases in the trenches, which this is
the first and only instance of, recorded in the history
of European warfare until 1914, was not carried out.
Had it been otherwise, it would surely have been in
contravention of that " Law of Arms," always so
scrupulously observed by French soldiers ; and as
such would certainly have been severely condemned
by Bayard and all the rest of the chivalric captains
of the army of the King of France coming to the
relief of the town, as well as by Monsieur de Pont-
Remy its noble and gallant defender and his officers.
of the Campaign 215
But, as we know that there were several com-
panies of German mercenaries in the town, would it
be very unreasonable or far-fetched to suggest that
these unknightly devices were the special, insidious
contrivances — perhaps unknown to the French
higher command — of the hireling Huns within the
gates, already gloatingly intent on practising their
mean and devilish tricks ?
However that may be, the immense strength of
the fortifications of Therouanne cannot be doubted.
In the opinion of Taylor, who evidently had care-
fully examined them for himself, corroborating many
other observers, it was " a town so fortified with
ramparts and mines that no age ever saw the like
before. It was determined," he adds, "to demolish
them " : which was straightway done by some 900
labourers and miners, acting at King Henry's orders,
blowing up the walls and towers with gunpowder,
and levelling all — bulwarks, ramparts, trenches.
" As the city," Taylor goes on to say, " belonged
to the House of Burgundy, Lord Talbot, who had
been appointed Governor, promised to hand it over
to the Emperor" — an act of chivalrous, almost
quixotic, generosity on Henry's part, which turned
out very unfortunate for the inhabitants. For " the
Emperor's soldiers," thinking they had, on that
account, a free hand to deal with it after their own
216 England's First Great War Minister
fashion, as a conquered possession, on which they
might indulge all their innate cravings for savagery,
"cruelly destroyed," so Taylor tells us, " the whole
town by fire " — regardless of the injury thereby done
to what was to become a portion of their sovereign's
dominions.
Already once in its history — in the ninth century
— it had been devastated by the earlier Huns. In
our day again Therouanne, now but an insignificant
town of only 700 inhabitants, would probably, for a
third time in its annals, have undergone " frightful-
ness " at the hands of the modern successors of its
perennial foes, had they managed to achieve their
long-set purpose of advancing in the direction of the
Channel ports much further than the English army
under French allowed them to do.
For standing as it does on the river Lys, which
flows through the town on its easterly course towards
Aire, Armentieres, Courtrais and Ghent ; at the
point of junction on which some seven important
roads converge ; situated exactly 9 miles, as the crow
flies, due south of St. Omer, and some 1 5 miles from
it by road ; and at almost exactly equal distances of
some 33 miles from Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne,
it could scarcely have failed to come within the range
of the enemies' lines, even though the strategic value
of its position be no longer such as it formerly was.
Outlines of the Campaign 2 1 7
When King Henry removed with his Army
from Therouanne, Wolsey must have been with
him as he passed through Aire, Lillers, " Beatwyn "
(Bethune), to a ford (across the river Surgeon ?)
to Cambrin ; then through Hulluch, " to old Vendome
(Vendin-le-Vieux) near the bridge, a place well
fortified by nature with an impassable marsh divided
by a narrow causeway a quarter of a mile long, with
room for one carriage only," according to our
excellent war correspondent.
From there Henry marched to the Canal de la
Haute Deule, which he and his Army crossed by
" Fount Avandien (Pont-a-Vendin) ; and so over
six miles of equally difficult ground," to Carvin, and
through Seclin to the suburbs of Lille. All this
to-day is, or soon will be we may hope, sacred
ground to the people of England. Not that little
England of 1513 ; but that greater, mightier,
world-wide England of 1916, which Wolsey was
already laying the foundations of, four hundred
years ago.
Outside Lille — then within the boundaries of the
Netherlands, of which Margaret of Savoy was the
Regent — the main body of the English army
stopped and encamped, to the south-east of the
town ; while Henry entered it at the invitation of
the Duchess as her friend and guest.
218 England's First Great War Minister
,s
" The people," says Taylor, who was present,
notebook in hand, " crowded out of the town to
meet the King in such numbers you would have
thought none had been left behind." And, as he
passed under the gateway, and rode along the
streets, he was received with tumultuous joy by the
inhabitants, and " with as much pomp as ever he
did at Westminster with his crown on ... his
sword and maces borne before him."
As usual he was superbly apparelled, this time
" in cloth of silver of small quadrant cuts, traversed
and edged with cut cloth of gold ; and the border
set full of red roses ; his armour fresh and set full
of jewels " ; and as he thus progressed, with an
almost equally brilliant escort, through the town,
" girls offered crowns, sceptres and garlands of
flowers ; and outlaws and malefactors with white
staves in their hands besought pardon. Between
the gate of the town and the palace the way was
lined with burning torches, although it was a bright
day, and there was scarce room for the riders to
pass ; and costly tapestries were hung from all the
houses."
At Lille Henry spent three days with the
Emperor, the Lady Margaret and her young
nephew, the Prince of Castile, afterwards the
Emperor Charles V ; the time being occupied with
Outlines of the Campaign 219
much banquetting, dancing, plays, comedies, masques
and other pastimes, Henry himself playing on the
lute and other instruments, and singing to the
assembled Court. But " when remembering himself,
that it was time to visit his Army, which lay at some
distance from him strongly encamped, he takes leave
of the ladies."
But it is not within the scope of the present
volume to enter into details : neither about the
King's sojourn at Lille ; nor of his march thence
to Tournay ; nor of his investment and capture of
that great and beautiful city — then the wealthiest
in all Flanders, and the most populous of any on
that side of Paris.
The day after Henry joined his camp before the
mighty fortress, the glorious news reached him, in a
letter from Queen Katherine, of the great victory
of the " Northern Army " under the Earl of Surrey
at Flodden — the death on the field of battle of
James IV of Scotland, the slaughter or capture of
the flower of the Scottish nobility, and the utter
rout of all their forces. This great triumph reflected
favourably on Wolsey, who indirectly had been the
" Organizer of Victory," anticipating by his dis-
positions the Scottish irruption, and furnishing arms,
munitions and provisions for Surrey's army.
Next day, under the walls of Tournay, in a great
22O England's First Great War Minister
pavilion of cloth of gold and purple, before King
Henry and his staff, a solemn high mass was sung,
followed by the " Te Deum," and an appropriate
sermon preached by the Bishop of St. Asaph. At
night bonfires were lit throughout the camp.
Just a week after this the garrison of the great
fortress agreed to surrender at discretion ; although
not before they and its civilian inhabitants had had
a little talking to from King Henry's famous
" apostles."
On its submission, six thousand English troops
marched in and took possession of the town ;
" and, then," says Hall, " Master Thomas Wolsey,
the King's Almoner, called before him all the
citizens, young and old, and swore them to the
King of England, the number whereof was four
score thousand."
So speedy a submission by " La Pucelle sans
Reproche" — "The Unsullied Maiden," as Tournay
proudly declared itself to be in an inscription carved
over its great gate — was evidently somewhat un-
expected. At any rate, Wolsey, with his usual
prevision, had not hesitated, at once on arriving
under the walls of the town, to make preparations
against a prolonged siege, in case this should have
to follow its investment. Anticipating the autumn
rains and floods, which he had personal experience
Outlines of the Campaign 221
of in his earlier years in Flanders, he took the
precaution, among many others, of ordering betimes
the building of an immense number of wooden huts
— miles of them, in fact — " of which a great part
had chimneys," sufficient to shelter the whole
English army of 40,000 men. They were so numerous
and ample that they covered a space around the
walls of Tournay three times as extensive as the
area covered by the town itself, which, it will
have been noted, harboured no less than 80,000
inhabitants.
Moreover, so solidly were these huts constructed,
that after the English Army had evacuated the
camp and returned to England — though leaving
6000 men to garrison the fortress — the huts were left
standing to serve as permanent habitations for the
numerous workmen engaged in the manifold indus-
tries of the town. There is reason to suppose that
Wolsey had this already in his mind when he passed
the specification of the standard hut, on the lines of
which the rest were to be built. People in Flanders,
and in France as well, had thus the opportunity of
learning that when at last the English do a thing,
they do it thoroughly.
We get this interesting bit of information about
these huts — so revealing of Wolsey's methods —
from the unimpeachable authority of Brian Tuke,
222 England's First Great War Minister
at this time a confidential secretary in Wolsey's
office, in a letter written on the spot under the walls
of Tournay, a letter which had lain buried for 350
years among the Sforza archives at Milan.
A few days after Tournay surrendered, Henry
himself entered as conqueror — with even more
splendour and glory than he had been received as
a guest at Lille — into the magnificent city and
maiden fortress, "the beauty of which," declares
Taylor, " superbly situated as it is on the Scheldt,
with its bridges, water-mills and splendid buildings,
no one can conceive, who has not seen it."
Next night, " the King, remembering the great
cheer that the Prince of Castile and the Lady
Margaret had made him at Lille," and having invited
them and the Emperor and " a splendid suite of
ladies in chariots, with gentlemen on horseback " to
be his guests in return, received them in his newly
conquered city by torchlight ; and there followed
several days of jous tings and til tings ; banquettings,
dancings, and singings ; and the maskings and dis-
guisings, that Henry loved so well — "the garments
of the mask being cast off amongst the ladies," who
scrambled for them, " take who could take."
In the meanwhile, sixty captains had been made
Knights, and Wolsey, as a reward for his invaluable
services, crowned by the rich and glittering prize of
Outlines of the Campaign 223
Tournay, was appointed by Henry to its wealthy
Bishoprick of Tournay — the revenues of which
(afterwards exchanged for a fixed pension) helped,
be it always remembered, to build • Christchurch,
Hampton Court and Whitehall.
At the close of our " eyewitness's " account of the
campaign he makes an observation, which, as he
rightly says, "must be noted to be guarded against
in future. English money, which greatly excels
foreign coinage in value, was recklessly thrown
away, thus occasioning great loss " — owing largely,
as he explains, to the soldiers having spent their
ample pay, while in the gay town of Tournay, with
a profusion, which Henry VIII himself indulged
in, and which his Chancellor of Exchequer and
War Minister, Wolsey, could in neither case
restrain.
For who, or what, could ever make the English
soldier, whether in white and green, red, or khaki,
be anything but open-handed ?
The campaign was now at an end ; and before
the middle of October Henry was on his way back
to England, passing through Lille, and then Ypres,
where he stayed in the now Boche-destroyed
monastery of St. Benedict. From there he went
by Bergues straight to Calais ; while the Army
marched along the road by the Furnes- Ypres canal,
224 England's First Great War Minister
through Boesinghe and past Lizerne and Bixshoote,
to Dixmude ; thence to Furnes and so through
Dunkirk and Gravelines to Calais.
The King, on 24th of October, "with a privy
company took ship, and the same day landed at
Dover ; and shortly after all his people followed."
Some English officials, however, besides the
garrison, were left behind at Tournay — among them
" Sir Edward Grey," whom it is curious to read of
as granting a passport, on the day the Army left,
to a man of doubtful-sounding nationality.
225
CHAPTER XIX.
RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN.
Reasons for the Termination of the Campaign — One of Henry's
Main Objects Achieved — His Fame as a Chivalrous Knight — Opinion
at Head-Quarters — Impressions in England — Effects on the Continent
— Depression in France — Enthusiastic Italians in London — Rejoicings
in Italy — Bonfires in Milan and Rome — The Pope's Gratification —
Henry's Letter to Leo X — King Ferdinand's Annoyance — " Put a
Bridle on this Colt" — Maximilian's Delight — Turns out a Regular
Fraud — Urges Henry to march on Paris — Henry rejects the Proposal
— But fears a Premature Peace — Invokes his " Conscience " — Wolsey
detects Maximilian's Treachery — The French fortify the line of the
Somme — The Strategic Importance of Pe'ronne — Danger of an
Advance into France — No Renewal of the Campaign — Wolsey
negotiates a Treaty of a Marriage between Louis XII and Mary
Tudor — Rewarded with Bishoprics — Made Lord Chancellor and a
Cardinal.
HE reasons which led to the abrupt termina-
tion of Henry's campaign in Flanders, as
narrated in our last chapter, cannot be entered into
in full here. Several considerations contributed to
the decision. First of all, by the time Tournay
surrendered, autumn had already begun ; and the
prospect of military operations overseas, in northern
France, in autumn amid heavy rains and floods, and
still less in winter, was one not to be thought of in
Q
226 England s First Great War Minister
those days — if they could possibly be avoided.
Further, one of King Henry's main objects in em-
barking on his great expedition had already been
achieved. For his renown as a gallant and chival-
rous warrior, and the fame of his riches and his
power had resounded throughout Christendom.
Especially awe-inspiring were his great and irre-
sistible armies in France and on the Scottish border
— amounting to 70,000 or 80,000 men all told —
still intact, in perfect training, health and condition,
elated with victory, and always provisioned with a
regularity that astonished the world.
What was claimed for Henry's achievements at
his own headquarters is reflected in Brian Tuke's
letter from the camp on the day of Tournay's
surrender, in which he wrote of the King's " un-
paralleled victories, always the few against the
many, and always conquering — a proof of the divine
assistance."
In England itself, and especially in London, the
impression made was deep and lasting : and it set
King Henry's throne on a foundation more fixed
and firm than that of any English sovereign for
nearly a hundred years.
In London on no section of people was the effect
so great and striking as among foreigners — especially
the friendly Italian merchants and diplomatists, who,
Results of the Campaign\ 227
carried away by the prevailing enthusiasm, wrote
glowing accounts to their friends and correspondents
all over Europe. The Venetians, especially, vied
with one another in their exaltation of " our great
King," "our victorious King," "our magnanimous
King," as they called him ; though Pasqualigo could
not help putting in a word about there still being
" no business doing of any sort."
In this way, and by the despatches from Henry
and Maximilian to their agents at the various
European Courts, the reputation of England on
the Continent was raised to a point never before
attained ; and its influence and importance in the
councils of Europe established on a plane they have
never permanently declined from since.
On the other hand, among the French great
depression naturally prevailed ; and King Louis
was so upset that he had to take to his bed. " The
French," wrote Bavarin, " remain downcast in their
fortresses, and they will now have to do penance
and pay the forfeit for what they have done to poor
Italy."
" Poor Italy," which had suffered so cruelly at
the hands of Louis XII, of course received the
tidings of that King's discomfiture with the wildest
delight ; and popular rejoicings took place in many
towns in the northern half of the peninsula. At
Q 2
228 England 's First Great War Minister
Milan, so often ravaged by the French, the Duke,
Maximilian Sforza, who received a letter from
Henry himself announcing his " defeat of the com-
mon enemy," at once had bonfires lit throughout the
town ; and he wrote back to Henry his warm con-
gratulations on his victories, telling him that " in
consequence thereof the hopes of the French in
Italy are ruined. It only remains for you to finish
the war. Greatly will it always be to your credit
to have rescued Italy from the foul yoke of the
French."
It was much the same in Venice and in Florence.
Even in Rome bonfires were lit by Cardinal
Bainbridge ; his example being followed by the
Emperor's Ambassador, and even Ferdinand's as
well.
The Pope himself was as much impressed as he
was gratified ; and he repeated to the Venetian
Ambassador, with evident satisfaction, what the
English Ambassador had told him about the great
military power of the King ; the enormous sums of
money at his disposal ; and his intention to march
to Rheims, there to be crowned King of France.
The effect of all this on his Holiness was intensi-
fied when he received an autograph letter from
Henry, written at Tournay the day before his leaving
that town on his way home to England, giving Leo
Results of the Campaign 229
an account of the Battle of Flodden ; of his victories
in Flanders ; and of his determination to renew the
campaign in the spring, which — so he said — was
only suspended then " on account of the approach
of winter, the urgency of Scotch affairs, and the
meeting of Parliament." One of the urgent Scotch
affairs was the disposal of the Scotch bishoprics
rendered vacant by "the slaughter of the prelates
who were in the battle of Flodden armed, and "
— as Henry complained to the Pope — " without
sacerdotal habit." He asked Leo to make no
nominations to these bishoprics until he had made
known his wishes in regard to them.
On the other hand, the issue of the campaign
had a very different effect upon the King of
England's pretended ally, Ferdinand of Arragon.
It was with bitter annoyance — almost amounting to
dismay — that he heard how those English, whom
he had so invariably disparaged, and that Army,
which he had so persistently expressed his contempt
for, had proved more than a match for the highly-
trained legions of the King of France. Peter
Martyr, a Spanish writer then a resident at his
Court at Valladolid, wrote privately describing how
Ferdinand had become "very apprehensive of the
overgrowing power of the King of England." He
even adopted with approval the saying of Caroz, his
230 England's First Great War Minister
Ambassador in England, that "it would be necessary
to put a bridle on this colt " — unless he was to be
allowed to run wild, regardless of the interests of
the King of Arragon.
As to Henry's other ally, the Emperor Maxi-
milian, he, of course, had every reason to rejoice
exceedingly at what had been done ; and, indeed,
he expressed, with effusion, his thanks — as well he
might — to Henry, who had so generously done so
much of his dirty work for him ; and had so neatly
pulled two very fine chestnuts — Therouanne and
Tournay — out of the French fire for him ; while he
had done next to nothing himself, all the time, but
look on. Indeed, his own contribution of men to
the common enterprise does not appear to have
much exceeded a thousand horse. In fact, all
through, he had proved to be a regular fraud. He
had talked very big ; had swaggered and humbugged
a great deal; had always been "very loving" to
Henry ; had still kept on calling him " his brother
and his son " ; had given him a lot of good advice —
but all the time had himself done nothing much
except steadily rake in the golden coin.
Even so, he was flattering himself that he could
yet make a lot more use of, and get a lot more
out of, "the dear boy"; whom he proceeded to
urge to finish off the war by marching straightway
Results of the Campaign 231
on Paris — which he assured Henry he could easily
and successfully do.
Maximilian, therefore, was naturally not a little
surprised, and very greatly vexed and hurt, when
Henry declined the tempting proposal, saying — not
without a certain degree of sincerity — that " as a
Christian Prince he could not humble France
unduly ; and that enough had been done to avenge
the wrongs of the Church." He thought he was
the more justified in saying this, as Leo X was, at
the same time, urging him not to be elated by
his victories ; but to ascribe all his success to the
intervention of Providence, "and to make peace as
soon as possible."
Henry in his reply, written on his return to
England, duly, and in all humility, assured Leo that
he " attributed his victories not to himself but to
God alone. As God gave Saul power to slay 1000
and David strength to kill 10,000 enemies, so He
has made him strong." He added that " he had
read Leo's exhortations to make peace with great
reverence." But he feared that " a premature peace
might only be the source of greater wars in the
future. Nevertheless, he would pay all respect to
his injunctions and obey them as far as possible."
Thus fortified he felt he could claim the highest
religious and moral authority, and almost the Divine
232 England 's First Great War Minister
sanction, and pretend, at the same time, to the
loftiest and most disinterested motives, on taking a
line evidently mainly resolved on from considera-
tions of prudence and practical advantage.
But this was just Henry all over ; always having
a wonderful knack of making a " virtue " of neces-
sity— the paramount " necessity " with him being at
all times his own desires and wishes. He had an
equally wonderful knack, when in a difficulty, of
getting out of it by invoking his " scruples" and
his " conscience." For, as we know from his
career as a married man, Henry often found it
very convenient to have a " conscience " — always
a useful auxiliary in England for any one who wants
to get his own way, or to force his own views on
others — even though the " conscience " be only a
" non-conforming " or an " objecting " one.
But "conscience" or no " conscience," King
Henry was influenced against a further advance into
French territory, in the then season of the year, by
more serious considerations than any reasons put
forward by him justifying the withdrawal of his
Army. One was the conviction of Wolsey and
himself that Maximilian, as well as Ferdinand, was
only waiting an opportunity to play him false ; and
that both of them, if not yet exactly opening up
secret communications with the King of France,
Results of the Campaign 233
were conspiring with each other to push him on
into an impossible position, after making all the use
they could of him.
There was another reason — the most weighty of
all — which must have been vividly present to the
clear vision of Wolsey and have steadily influenced
his judgment — if not the less balanced and more
impetuous disposition of his young master. This
reason is revealed to us by some of those secret
documents, which the unlocking of the treasuries of
foreign archives has placed at the disposal of the
student of history in recent years, laying bare so
many long-unsuspected motives, so many mysterious
happenings, so many long - unexplained actions.
Nowhere is this reason referred to in any con-
temporary accounts of the war, nor hinted at in any
of the ordinary books of history.
Nevertheless, it is certainly a fact that a great
French army, undefeated and intact, had retired to
southern Picardy and there taken up a strongly
fortified position on the line of the River Somme,
which they intended to hold against an advancing
English force — replenishing with ample provisions
and munitions, and strongly garrisoning with first-
class troops, Abbeville, Amiens and Peronne. The
last-mentioned town involved a position — as we
have good reason to know to-day — of great strategic
234 England's First Great War Minister
as well as tactical importance, whether in a scheme
for the defence of Northern France, or in a plan
for its invasion.
True, the same authority attributed to Henry
and his advisers the idea of avoiding-, or turning, the
French position on the Somme, and by a rapid
march from Tournay by way of St. Quentin and
Laon, going as far east as Rheims — to pick up, as
it were, the crown of France on the way, perhaps—
to advance thence through Champagne along the
Marne on Paris.
So extremely dangerous, though boldly con-
ceived, a plan, with all the tremendous hazards
which would have been involved in its being put
into execution, was not likely to have been seriously
entertained by Wolsey. And assuredly in view of
the political, not less than the military, aspect of
affairs, it was a very wise judgment — whether it was
Wolsey's alone, or that of a council of war — which
rejected the idea, and resolutely determined to break
off the campaign at the end of October, and bring
the English Army back to England.
These several considerations seem sufficient
answer to the criticisms of one or two writers, who
appear to find fault with the conduct of the campaign
after the fall of Tournay ; as though the way to
Paris was entirely open, and as though active opera-
Results of the Campaign 235
tions had been suspended just at the very moment
when a vigorous penetration of the enemy's country
would have resulted in such a triumphant and superb
consummation as the capture of the capital of
France. But Wolsey and his military advisers, we
may assume, knew pretty well what they were
about ; and had gauged pretty accurately what they
could do, and what they could not do — more
accurately than the Emperor, and much more in
accordance with the interests of the King of
England.
But, of course, Maximilian's annoyance and
disappointment were extreme. So, to make up to
him for the loss of the pleasant trip to Paris, at some-
body else's expense, which he had been looking
forward to, Henry gave him, on parting, a tip of 2000
golden crowns — worth about ^2 0,000 now — to take
back to Vienna with him. Henry further promised
him another subsidy of no less than 200,000 crowns
on the renewal of the campaign in the following
spring.
But there was never any renewal of the campaign.
For Wolsey, soon afterwards detecting the treacherous
compact of Maximilian with Ferdinand to abandon
Henry, with consummate skill turned the diplomatic
tables on the two conspirators, by secretly negotiating
a treaty of marriage between the widowed Louis XII
236 England's First Great War Minister
and Henry's beautiful young sister Mary, and making
peace and an alliance with France.
Henry was delighted with this turn of events,
and with the way in which he had been extri-
cated from a very perplexing position by Wolsey's
astute diplomacy. To mark his appreciation of his
minister's great services he forthwith appointed him
to the Bishopric of Durham ; and six months after
the Archbishopric of York followed. Next came
the Lord Chancellorship ; and then the Cardinalate
— all within two years of the fall of Tournay.
If Henry turned on his faithful servants when he
had no longer any use for them, he certainly knew
how to reward them while they still enjoyed his
favour.
237
CHAPTER XX.
WOLSEY'S NATIONAL POLICY.
Wolsey's Steady Political Aims — Peace in Europe and an Alliance
with France — England to be the disinterested Arbiter of Christian
Nations — Henry contented with his own Island — The Principles of
England's Foreign Policy — The Fatuous Doctrine of Aloofness from
Europe — A Mongrel Crew lures England to the Brink of Ruin — Its
Terrible Results — Wolsey's Sane and Patriotic Policy — The " Wolsey
Policy" results in England's Expansion Overseas — His New Navy
the Decisive Factor in repelling the Spaniard — National Policy
Wolsey's True Domain — Not the "Foreign Policy" of Subtle
Doctrinaires or Mumbling Party Hacks — But of Life and Action —
England and the King One and the Same to Wolsey — His Noble
National Aims — Raises England to the Highest Estate among
Nations — His Claims for Admiration and Gratitude on all Britons —
The First Steps towards an Obscure Goal in 1513 — The "Wolsey
Spirit" — The Spiritual prevailing over the Material — How we are
thereby sustained to-day.
H E alliance was a master-stroke : and it electri-
fied Europe. At once England was raised to
a higher place than ever before ; and, by the genius of
the man who had contrived it, became at a bound the
arbiter of Europe. It was much more, however,
than a mere move in the diplomatic game. It was
the first, clear, definite step in the evolution of
Wolsey's fixed and steady policy for this island
Kingdom of England, confronted with the ever-
238 England's First Great War Minister
changing tendencies and the ever-shifting problems
of European politics — a policy, the essential aim
of which was a general peace in Europe ; and for
England, especially and above all, peace and alliance
with France. And, it may be added, by keeping
his country out of war to develop her resources
and to make her great through being prosperous
and secure. Such a policy, moreover, accorded
with the real bent of the personal inclinations of the
King, who soon came to see how vain and profit-
less for England and for him were empty claims to
phantom dominions, or costly military enterprises,
across the seas.
" I only wish to command my own subjects," said
he to the Venetian Ambassador, " but on the other
hand I do not choose that anyone should have it in
his power to command me." And again, " We
want all potentates to content themselves with their
own territories ; we are quite content with this
island of ours."
As for France, Henry had no real animosity
either against the French King or against the
French people ; and he had as little as Wolsey of
that stupid, John- Bull prejudice against French
things, which to a certain extent then, and to a
much greater extent afterwards, under the fostering
antagonism of rival religious and political ideals and
Wolseys National Policy 239
systems, reached such a ridiculous pitch among the
denser and narrower-minded middle classes in
puritanical England.
With regard to Wolsey's policy of a general
peace in Christendom — each nation, great or small,
enjoying its freedom and rights, all balanced by an
impartial England — this too accorded with Henry's
aspirations. Eagerly did he fancy himself holding
the proud position of a disinterested arbiter amidst
the jarring jealousies of Continental princes,
resulting in a united Christian Europe offering a
united front to the Infidel.
On this firm basis — making an end for ever of
the absurd and unnational claim to the long-lost
English dominions in France — -Wolsey, with hi*
unerring instinct, first established those broad/
fundamental principles of English international
polity, which all the great English statesmen who \
have since ruled over her destinies have been content
to follow.
Such deviations as there have been, in the course
of these last four hundred years, from Wolsey's
clearly defined limits, have invariably been attended
with disaster to this country.
This has been the case not least when that
will-o'-the-wisp, "a spirited foreign policy," has been
followed for its own sake — regardless of the limita-
240 England's First Great War Minister
tions imposed on us, as well as the advantages
secured to us, by our insular position. It has been
the case still more when, with purblind obstinacy —
regardless of the essential conditions of England's
very existence as an independent State in the
European system — our place-hunters have preached
to comfort-hugging audiences the delusive doctrine
of complete aloofness from European affairs.
This doctrine — expressed in the several phrases :
" non-intervention," " splendid isolation " and " peace
at any price " — has been surely the most preposterous
in theory, as it has been the most terrible in
its results, with which a great nation has ever been
lured to the brink of ruin by a mongrel crew of
sophistical rhetoricians and hair-splitting meta-
physicians ; of needy professional politicians and
pushing lawyers "on the make," of the " whichever-
side-will-pay-the-best " breed ; and of self-sufficient,
" superior," super-sensitive, super-exquisite senti-
mentalists— a doctrine now dissolved for ever in its
own self-produced ocean of blood and tears.
From anything which could harbour delusions
so fatuous and so disastrous as these, Wolsey's
foreign policy — for all its steady striving after the
ideal of a universal Christian peace — was as far
removed as possible. Sane and practical in its
immediate aims, as it was national and patriotic in
Wolsey s National Policy 241
its inspiration, there was as yet, in those early days, ; V
no wider field for its action than the comparatively
narrow one of central and northern Europe. Yet,
in the rapidly opening and widening outlook west-
wards, with its new arenas, then being revealed
before a wondering world, its essential and guiding
principles were in no way incompatible with a
world-extended influence. On the contrary, they
were actually adapted to it ; and may even be said,
in a sense, to have opened the road towards world-
wide activities and a world-wide rule.
It was the " Wolsey Policy," in fact, as carried
on after his death by Henry VIII, and as it was
developed later by the King's great daughter
and her ministers, which flung open wide the gates
of the New World — with all its teeming riches and
all its tempting chances, all its alluring hopes and
possibilities — to the dauntless English adventurers,
who went forth in fragile barques to breast the mount-
ainous billows of the Atlantic main. And it was
the " Wolsey Policy," which, infused with the
exalting spirit of noble and national ideals, made
possible the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the
smashing for ever of the overweening Spanish power.
In this, as in all that followed the prime and
decisive factor — need we say it ? — was that New
Navy, nurtured under the fostering care of Wolsey,
242 England 's First Great War Minister
which first bestrode the waves in the summer of
1513, and thenceforth — in forecast of its full glory
in the coming Elizabethan times — swept in unchal-
lenged majesty the northern seas, aflame with the
spirit, forever after quenchless, of the heroic Howard.
But for that Navy, "this dear, dear land" of
ours might, in very deed, have lain " at the proud
foot of the conqueror " ; crushed beneath the
sullying hoof of the tyrannical Spaniard. That
England came scatheless through that perilous time
was due — so far as such things depend on ministers
and their schemes, and so far as they can be traced
back to any one prime ultimate cause — to the fore-
sight of Wolsey, and to his policy, already pregnant
with the great issues that followed.
And here we touch on what was pre-eminently
Wolsey 's own true domain — that of Foreign or
National Policy — not " Foreign Policy" as expounded
in portentous tones by doctrinaire " sociologists," or
in the "juridical niceties" and subtleties of philo-
sophers and " thinkers " ; or in the dreary pronounce-
ments of the pompous pundits of International Law.
Nor " Foreign Policy " as mumbled about, by super-
annuated, played-out party hacks and officials ; but
a strong, uplifting National Policy, instinct with life,
1 and expressed in action — action bold, swift, firm,
and definite — wrought by a hand untiring and
Wolsey s National Policy 243
unerring, to mould, control and direct all issues and
events. In this, Wolsey, unequalled as he was in
administration, was not merely unequalled — he was
supreme. As Professor Pollard has succinctly
expressed it : " In diplomacy, pure and simple,
Wolsey has never been surpassed."
It was, indeed, the sphere which he sought and
chose, by instinct, out of all others ; the one in which
he most shone ; the one in which he eclipsed even
his own wonderful achievements in other directions.
For extraordinary as was Wolsey's grasp of the
minutest matters of domestic administration, his
genius, to use Dr. Brewer's words, " shone most con-
spicuous in great diplomatic combinations. The more
hazardous the conjuncture, the higher his spirit rose
to meet it. His intellect expanded with the occasion."
Ostensibly, it is true, in all this he worked for
his master King Henry ; but in fact and effect it
was for England. For, between England and the
King thereof, he recognized no distinction, no
difference. To Wolsey, King Henry was England
— but then equally England was the King. As
Mandel Creighton put it with striking verity :
"Wolsey's aims were those of a national statesman,
not those of a Royal servant." Had he really been
the mere courtier he is often represented as being, he
might have retained the Royal favour by using, for
R 2
244 England's First Great War Minister
the cutting of the knot of the King's marriage with
Queen Katherine, the means which the unscrupulous,
insidious, treacherous Cranmer devised.
Wolsey's methods and principles were far different
and nobler ; as his aims and aspirations were
different and nobler. National Policy, expressed
and given effect to, through the Royal Prerogative
and Person, that was the sphere, in which he more
and more, in his later years, absorbed his vast
energies and his marvellous intellect — the sphere in
which he accomplished his greatest, noblest and
most enduring work — the making of the dwellers
in this small island—
" This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England " —
for the first time in their history a really great, com-
pact and commanding nation — equal to the greatest.
This it was, which to him became his one,
constant, ceaseless, absorbing aim : and into it he
flung all his bewildering energies and all the resources
of his incomparable genius. And before he fell he
had attained his purpose. From the high estate
to which Wolsey raised this our proud England,
there has never been any real coming down since.
And herein lies Wolsey's great claim to the
admiration and gratitude of every Englishman : aye,
and of every man, who, under the shelter of the
Wolsey s National Policy 245
British flag, turns to England as to a mother, from
across the erstwhile sundering seas, now the far-
reaching links, which — since that March morning of
1513 when the New Navy sailed forth to unending
glory and fame — draw and clasp and weld us all
into one mighty and irresistible whole.
This, above all, it is which seems to give a
special interest, at the present time, to those first
steps taken by Wolsey towards a then shadowy goal ;
and to make it worth while to tell of the opening
of the grand drama — a moment when the stability
of the Tudor throne, and the whole fate of the
British Isles still hung in the balance.
Assuredly it may be thought to lend to his
organization, as Minister of War, of England's
New Navy and New Army in that portent-bearing
year, a significance it would not otherwise possess.
For to us, to-day, the achievements and victories
of Henry VI I I's naval and military forces would seem
too small and trivial to be recalled, did they not bear
the germ of a long sequence of great happenings,
culminating in the tremendous struggle which, at
this hour, nigh paralyses our power of thought.
But beyond all these, and more significant and
greater than any of these, is the fact that there was
a " Wolsey Spirit " as well as a Wolsey Policy — a
spirit of intensity, of enthusiasm, of passion for
246 England s First Great War Minister
England and for England's greatness, which though
it has fallen low and feeble at times, has never been
extinguished ; and which has burst forth in our
day in a splendour, a nobility and a fervour of love
of country, and of self-sacrifice, for a great Empire,
a great cause, and great and transcending ideals,
never quite attained in the life of this nation before.
And above all it is the Spirit which counts ; the
true, lofty spirit, without which all else were vain
and hopeless. For with the spirit refined and
exalted, the obscure becomes clear ; hindrances
melt away ; and things that seemed unattainable and
impossible are swiftly encompassed and secured.
Thus does the spiritual, surpassing and overcoming
the merely material, ensure a certain and irresistible
triumph to a just and noble cause.
It has been this, which has sustained our con-
fidence and buoyed up our hopes in the long dark
days of trial and disaster : the feeling, that the true
spirit which animates this nation has never been
sounder, never been greater, never been nobler ;
and the knowledge that —
" Nought shall make us rue
If England to itself do rest but true."
THE END
APPENDIX.
NOTE ON THE PORTRAITS OF WOLSEY IN
THIS VOLUME.
A FEW remarks seem called for about the portraits
inserted in this volume. Of these the frontispiece gives
us a presentment of the great War Minister, in the earlier
period of his career, which, though it would hardly claim
our attention on mere artistic grounds, is certainly very
interesting as being from the hand of some Flemish or
northern French draughtsman, who must have seen Wolsey
on one of his numerous visits to Flanders ; besides having
a very definite value as an iconographic record.
The question whether it and others in this Arras
collection, including one of the Duke of Suffolk and several
other Englishmen, are Le Boucq's own drawings or only
contemporary copies by him from various originals by
different hands, has been discussed by M. Henri Bouchot
in his " Portraits aux crayons des XVI6 et XVII6 siecles "
(pp. 107-112), without his arriving at any definite conclu-
sion : and now the demons of " Kultur " have probably
248 England's First Great War Minister
succeeded in destroying all possibility of our ever being
able to decide the question.
Apart, however, from the uncertainty of authorship,
the importance of the collection has been testified to by so
high an authority as Mr. W. H. James Weale, in his great
work on the Van Eycks. And, in any case, whatever
precise value or degree of intimate authenticity may attach
to this portrait of Wolsey, at any rate it disposes — showing
him, as it does, in a nearly full-faced view — of the rather
absurd, though long-prevalent legend, that he would only
allow himself to be represented left side-faced, on account
of some defect in his right eye. So far, indeed, was he
from insisting on anything of the sort, that, apart from the
portrait we are now discussing, both in an interesting old
panel at Brympton, Somersetshire, now the property of
Mr. John Ponsonby-Fane, as well as in one of the pictures
next to be noticed, he is seen right side-faced ; while in
one a wart is shown near his eye, and in the other also a
wart, very small, between his nose and lip. As little as
Oliver Cromwell did Wolsey wish to be painted otherwise
than as he was — " warts and all."
Nevertheless, it is certainly true that he had some bad
affection of the eyes — probably due to the enormous strain
on them of incessantly reading and writing, in the crabbed
script of those times, the vast correspondence that passed
under his view. Skelton in his malicious satire against
him — " Why come ye nat to Courte " — alludes to his being
" So full of melancholy
With a flap afore his eye " —
Appendix 249
perhaps a drooping eyelid — though there is no trace of
anything of the sort in any of his portraits.
As to the expression of Wolsey's face, Giustiniani, the
Venetian Ambassador, writing in 1519, after saying "he is
very handsome," adds that " he is pensive " — which agrees
with Skelton's "full of melancholy." No doubt his
ceaseless labours and his ever-increasing cares had abated
much of that gay, easy, gracious air and manner, which we
know was one of his attractions in the eyes of Henry VIII ;
but which mightily irritated the sedate, old, surviving
officials of his father's demure court.
The photograph, it should be said, from which this
plate is produced, was secured some years ago by
Mr. Lionel Cust. Otherwise this interesting portrait
would probably have been lost to us for ever, owing to the
deliberate destruction of the library of the town of Arras
by the malignant Huns.
Next as to the two other portraits, neither of which has
ever before been published, or even privately reproduced :
and first as to the head after the picture at Trinity College,
Oxford. This, though far from being a work of any artistic
merit, is not inferior to the similar picture at Christchurch
— Cardinal's College — of which it may possibly be the
original or the earlier version — though even itself, of course,
not from life, or even contemporary.
But there is more in favour of the plate here printed.
For, of all the many engraved portraits of Wolsey, every
one of which seems ultimately to have been derived from
the Christchurch version, as being supposed the most
250 England's First Great War Minister
authentic, not one — not even the fine plate by Robert
Cooper, in the folio edition of " Lodge's Portraits," which
follows the picture more closely than any of the others
— correctly portrays the physiognomy or the expression
of Wolsey's face in the picture.
Not that our photographic reproduction gives either a
better-looking or a finer-looking face ; but it gives the
lineaments represented in this type of old picture — not a
worked-up, " improved" or "picturesque" ideal, with an
air of benignancy befitting the conventional ecclesiastic —
but the picture as it really is — for what it is worth —
revealed by the inexorable veracity of the photographic
plate, and, therefore, less unlike the individual as he really
was. Any one, indeed, who should compare the older
prints and engravings with their Christchurch prototype
will be amazed at their divergence from it. All the
pictures, if they show a harsher, less placid and composed
expression than the engravings, show also a stronger,
more forceful, more determined individuality.
Yet, notwithstanding all this, the Trinity College
picture, as well as all others in England purporting to be
original portraits of Wolsey — including the curious three-
quarter length in the National Portrait Gallery — are surely
not, as we have said, contemporary ; but " confections " all
adapted or derived — some of them at several removes —
from one single drawing or smaller picture — not as yet
traced and identified.
Passing next to the head from the picture of the " Field
of the Cloth of Gold," this also has never before been
Appendix 251
published — either in engraving or photograph. Neverthe-
less it is of no small account, being evidently painted from
life, like the portraits of several other personages in that
strange, but very meticulously accurate composition ; and
therefore of an authenticity unequalled by any other
known portrait of Wolsey in England.
Moreover, though on a small scale, and somewhat
indistinct, from the paint being discoloured and cracked, it
is not badly drawn ; while it agrees with and generally
corroborates the other two here presented — showing the
same massive brow, the same resolute jaw, with the rather
long, overhanging upper lip ; the same look of clear-
sightedness, power and unswerving will. Evidently, we
have here one who would not be content with merely the
saying of masses and the reading of his breviary.
Unfortunately, although some essentials of the portrait
are brought out better by the photographic lense than they
can be seen with the naked eye, others are lost in it. This
is especially so with the eye, of which the white seems
blurred into the pupil ; whereas in the picture itself one
can see them quite distinct; the expression being clear
and life-life.
As before observed, the profile in which Wolsey is here
shown is the reverse of the one in which he appears in the
usual engraved portraits.
INDEX
AACHEN, 30
Abergavenny, Lord, 177
Abbeville, 233
Aeon, see Aachen
Admiral, The Lord, his "whistle
of command," 70; see also
Howard, Sir Edward
Admirals write good plain Eng-
lish, 122
Admiralty, The, 7, 16, 129
Afghanistan, 140
Aire, on the river Lys, viii, 2,
96, 216, 217; The Emperor
Maximilian's camp at, 194;
King Henry and Wolsey pass
through, 217
" Almayn Rivet," what it was,
202
"Almayns," 150, 158, 174, 182,
205 ; and see German Mer-
cenaries
Almoner, the King's, see Wolsey
Ambassadors, duties of, 54 \ and
see Knight, Dr. ; Bainbridge,
Cardinal ; and French, Im-
perial, Spanish, and Venetian
Amiens, 233
Ammonius, Andrea, Henry VIII's
Latin Secretary, 18
Ammunition, 65-7
Angouleme, Louise Duchesse d',
134
Aquitaine, 60, 143
Ardres, 210
Armentieres, ix, 216
Armour, 65-7
Armoury, 84
"Arms, The Law of," 93; strictly
observed by the French and
English, 94,214
Army, the English, 4 ; at Font-
arabia, 9 ; strikes for more pay,
10 ; returns to England, 10, n ;
Spanish opinion of, 13, 151-2 ;
victualling of, 22 ; good health
of, 88 ; surgeons in, 93 ; chi-
valry of, 94 ; advertising the
New, 195; pay and clothing
of, 182 ; quality and spirit of,
189; its efficiency, 197 ; landing
in France, 209; fights Battle
of Spurs, 2 1 2 • encamps out-
254 England's First Great War Minister
side Lille, 217; huts for, 221;
Wolsey and the, 245. See also
Henry VIII ; Wolsey ; Array,
Commissions of; Fore Ward,
Middle Ward, Rear Ward,
Sanitation, Vanguard, Vic-
tualling, etc.
Army, Sir John French's, 4
Army-Surgeons, 90-3
Arragon, King of, see Ferdinand ;
and Katherine of
Arras, library of, 247, 249
Array, Commissions of, 55 ;
issued by Henry VIII, 58-9 ;
not " buried in a deep grave,"
74
Artillery, 65-7 ; Henry VIII's,
114
Artois, 14; see also Picardy
Arundel, Earl of, 106, 117
Ashley, 108
Astley, 1 08
Aston, 1 08
BACON, FRANCIS, 56
Badoer, Andrea, Venetian Am-
bassador in London, 40 ; ac-
quires accurate information,
50 ; his friendship with the
great lords, 5 2 ; his profuse
hospitality, 52; pawns his
plate, 53 j his account of
Henry VIII's Navy, 71; and
of his Army, 1 96
Bagot, Sir Lewis, 96, 108
Bainbridge, Cardinal, Archbishop
of York, Henry VIII's Am-
bassador in Rome, 105 ; the
King's despatch to, 165 ; lights
bonfires for Henry's victories,
228
Barber-Surgeons, Company of,
92-3. See Army-Surgeons
Bavarin, Factor of the Pisari in
London, describes Henry VIII's
New Army, 186 ; and his great
riches, 193; reports French
to be downcast, 227
Bayard, The Chevalier, 94; a
prisoner, and received by King
Henry, 213-4
Beatty, Admiral Sir David, 126
Beatwyn. See Bethune
Bethune, ix, 2, 96, 217
Beer, English soldiers clamour for,.
9 ; difficulties of getting, 1 1 1
Bergues, 223
Berkeley, 108
Biscay, Bay of, 8, 12, 104; and
see St. Sebastian
Bishops, Combatant, 179
Bixshoote, ix, 224
Blanc Nez, Cap, 201
Blancs, Sablons Les, 128
Blount, Elizabeth (afterwards
Lady Talboys), her son by
Henry VIII, 32
Boesinghe, 224
" Bombards," 67
Index
255
Bomy, Village and Battle of, i ;
and see Spurs, Battle of
Boleyn, Anne, her father, 13;
Henry VIII gives her a black
satin nightgown, 33, 178
Boleyn, Sir Thomas, father of
Anne, 13; with Henry VIII
in France, 178
Bouchot, M. Henry, 247
Boucq, Jacques de, his portrait
of Wolsey, 247
Brandon, Sir Charles (afterwards
Viscount Lisle and Duke of
Suffolk), a favourite ot Henry
VIII, 135; summoned to join
with his force at Southampton,
139 ; his large force for the
Army, 177
Bread, rise in price of, 79
Brest, sickness at, 88 ; French
fleet fly to, 119-20; guns of,
128; French Fleet at, 130;
Admiral Howard buried at (?),
134; harbour of, 136; fight
off, 138, 1 68, 200
Brewer, Dr. J. S., mentioned,
42 ; his calendars of State
Papers, 35, 43; his vindica-
tion of Wolsey, vi, 6, 7, 16,
25, 34, 56> 243; nis estimate
of Wolsey's budgets, 47-8
Britain, first use of the word for
England, 62
British Museum, manuscripts in,
42, 172, 177, 201
Britons, a " ginger " optimist's
appeal to, 43
Brittany, 102, 105, 118, 138, 168
Bruges, 76, 100, 174
Brussels, 13, 84, 105, 136, 148,
149, 156, 174
Brympton, Somersetshire, 248
Buckingham, Duke of, 21, 173;
his forces in France, 177
Budget of 1513, 40 et seq. ; and
see Wolsey
Burgundians, 182, 186
Burgundy, House of, 215
" Business as usual," 69
Butts, Dr., Henry VIII's phy-
sician, 90
CALAIS, mentioned, i, 5, 30, 32,
36, 37, 60, 66, 97, 99, 100,
in, 139, 140, 158, 174, 175,
181, 183, 190, 216; stores
poured into, 78-80; horses
shipped to, 8 r ; the Army
conveyed to, 176; week-end
jaunts to, 178; Henry VIII
arrives at, 201 ; clergy of, re-
ceive him, 201 ; he passes
through the streets of, 201 ;
townsmen welcome to Henry
at, 205 ; streets and churches
of, 206-7 ) Henry VIII in, 209 ;
Henry VIII marches out from,
2 TO; Henry returns to, 223;,
the English Army returns to,
224
256 England's First Great War Minister
Cambrin, Town of, 217
" Camlet," 182
Capel, 1 08
"Captains" and "Petty Cap-
tains" of "Retinues," 109
182
Garden or Cawarden, Robert and
Sir Thomas, 97
Carmelianus, Peter de Brescia,
luter to Henry VIII, 181
Caroz, Spanish Ambassador in
England, 229
Carvin, Town of, ix, 96, 217
Castile, Charles Prince of (after-
wards the Emperor Charles V),
148, 218, 222
Cavalry, horses for, 81 ; and see
" Northern Horsemen "
Cavelcanti, John, 66
Cavendish, 108
Cawarden ; see Garden
Caxton, 95
Chambre, Dr., Henry VIII's
physician, 90 ; portrait of,
92
Champagne, 234
Channel, The English, 2, 4, 5;
3°, 36> 37, 4o, 99, io5> IJ4>
193, 201
Channel Ports, 216
Charing Cross, 51
Charlecote Park, 178
Charles V, The Emperor, see
Castile, Prince of
Charron, 123-4, 132
Chatham, Earl of, 56
Cherbury, Lord Herbert of, see
Herbert, Lord
Chivalry, 94, 194 ; and see " Arms,
Law of"
Christchurch College, Oxford,
223; picture of Wolsey in,
249, 250
Cinque Ports, 78, 140, 177
Cleves, Anne of, 82
Clifford, 1 08
"Coat and Conduct Money,"
182
Comines, De, 156
" Commissions of Array," see
Array
Commons, House of, 42, 45, 51
Compton, 1 08
Compton, Sir William, 32, 177
" Conduct Money," 183
Conquet, Le, 118, 120, 128, 134;
and see Brest
Conway, 108
Cooper, R., engraved portrait of
Wolsey, 250
Corbett, 208
Corbett, Mr. Julian S., 134
Coronel, Battle off, 126
Council, The King's, 14, 23, 51,
84, 145, 181
^ourtrais, 216
>addock, 108
>adock, Admiral Sir Christo-
pher, 126
3
Index
257
Creighton, Mandel, Bishop of
London, his appreciation of
Wolsey, vi, 6, 24, 243
Cromwell, Oliver, his Ironsides,
187 ; his portraits with warts,
248
Cromwell, Thomas, vii
" Culverins," 67
" Curtals," 66
Cust, Mr. Lionel, 249
DACRE, 108
Darcy, Lord, 177
Dardanelles, The, 108
Daunce, John, Treasurer of the
War, 79
Denmark, King of, 41
Derby, Earl of, 171, 173
Devon, Earl of, 107, 204
Digby, 1 08
Dixmude, 97, 224
Doberitz, 163
Dorset, Marquis of, commands
the St. Sebastian Expedition,
10, 21, 106
Dover, 78, 140, 171, 173, 175,
181, 183, 202
Dover Castle, Henry VIII at,
176, 199
Drake, Sir Francis, 56, 122
Dunkirk, 97, 216, 224
Durham, Bishop of ; see Ruthal
Dymoke, Sir Robert, Treasurer
of the Rear Ward, 30, 174
ECHYNGHAM, Captain Sir Ed-
ward, his despatch to Wolsey,
1 20- 1, 124-5; his eulogy of
Admiral Howard, 126
Edward I, 144
Edward III, 144, 204
Edward the Black Prince, 144
Egerton, 108
Egypt, 140
Elizabeth, Queen, 61, 91, 241
England, mentioned, 3, 4, 5, 7,
i7, 43, 52» 73, 75, I27> 2*7;
foreigners living in, 68; for
England's sake, 107 ; sea-
power of, 198; position in
Europe, 237, 244-6
England, King of; see Henry
VIII
English, the opinion of Spaniards
of the, 10 ; see also Army, the
English
Erasmus, 181
Esyll, John van, of Aeon, 30
Europe, 8, 237, 240 et seq.
Exchequer, The Royal, 29
Eyre, 108
FAIRFAX, 108
" Falcons," 67
Favri, Nicolb di, an attache at
the Venetian Embassy, 40 ; his
picture of life in London, 5 1 ;
describes the habits of his
Ambassador in war time, 53 ;
S
258 England *s First Great War Minister
describes English preparations,
69; discusses the war, 3, 71,
143, 147 ; describes the char-
acter and spirit of the New
Army, 186-7
Ferrers, 108
Ferrers, Lord, 106 ; his wages, 109
Ferdinand, King of Arragon,
mentioned, 3, 14, 143, 145,
147 ; instigates Henry to his
expedition to St. Sebastian, 8 ;
Henry VIII's pledge to, 10;
complains of the English
soldiers, 1 1 ; envious of Eng-
land's great Army, 12; " will
assist his son," 43; annoyed
at the success of the English
Navy at Brest, 137 ; his ma-
noeuvres, 141 ; joins the Holy
League, 142 ; asking for Eng-
lish gold, 150; gives Henry
good advice, 151; disparages
Henry VIII's Army, 152; no
confidence in Henry's enter-
prises, 153; his plans frus-
trated by Wolsey, 153 ; insists
on Henry VIII employing
German mercenaries, 158
" Field of the Cloth of Gold,"
Picture of the, 85, 200, 203,
Fitzwilliam, 108
Flanders, i, 2, 3, 16, 37, 66, 80,
82, 92,97, 140, 157, 1 68, 174,
219, 221
Fleet, The, Henry VIII as an
Admiral of, 70; prepared by
Wolsey for active service, 101 ;
in Southampton Water, 102 ;
puts to sea, 103 ; full strength
of, 104; and see Howard, Sir
Edward
Fletcher, the dramatist, 48
Flodden, Battle of, 62, 103, 184,
219
Florence, bankers and merchants
of, 66 ; mentioned, 136
"Foists," 1 8, 19
Foljambe, 108
Fontarabia, Henry VIII's Army
at, x, 8-10 ; the fiasco of, 15,
29, 68> X37
"Fore Ward," The, or "Van-
guard," 170, 173
Foreign Secretary, 6
Foreign Policy, Wolsey's, 170,
240-4
Fortescue, 108
Foundries for cannon in England,
67
Fox, Bishop of Winchester, 19,
21, 107; begs Wolsey not to
overwork, 24 ; his military
forces, 178
France, mentioned, i, 8, 58,
60, in, 137, 139, 147, 166,
221 ; Henry VIII's expedition
against, 15; the war against,
22; Henry in person to in-
vade, 40 ; soldiers of, 63, 94;
Index
259
King's preparations against,
69, 85 ; northern coasts of, 102,
105; armies of, 226
France, The Fleet of, 119; at
Brest, 130, 138, 1 68
" France," Title of " King of,"
183
Francis I of France, 146
French, Sir John (now Viscount),
his Army in France, 4, 8, 80,
140
French, The, 68, 82, 162, 205 ;
hope to cut off the English
from their provisions, 151;
their arms thought to be
superior to the English, 152;
gamblers, 157
Friscobaldi, the, bankers of
Florence, 66
Froissart, his tribute to the hu-
manity of French and English,
162; denounces the cruelties
of the Germans, 1 63
Fumes, ix, 97, 224
Furnes-Ypres canal, 223
" GABRIEL Royal, The," 169
Galleys, Henry VIII's great,
200
Geneva Conventions, 94
Genoa, 136
German mercenaries, threaten to
desert to the enemy, 159; the
chief of the, 1 60 ; reluctantly
engaged by Henry VIII, 161 ;
good soldiers, 1 61 ; their familiar
atrocities, 162; collected near
Calais, 186 ; burn down
churches, 211; three of them
hung by Henry VIII, 211;
more about, 215
Germany, 66
Ghent, 174, 216
Gibraltar, Straits of, 29
Giustiniani, Venetian Ambassador
in London, 191 ; describes
Henry VIII, 191; describes
Wolsey, 248
Grafton's chronicle, 42
Gravelines, 176, 224
"Great Harry," The, 70, 107,
169
Gresley, 108
" Grey, Sir Edward," 224
Greville, 108
Griffith, in the play " King Henry
VIII," vii
Grisnez, Cap, 201
Guernsey, 61
Guienne, 8, 60, 143
Guinchy, 96
Guise, Due de, 207
Guisnes, Castle of, 78
Gunpowder, 66
HAGUE Conventions, 94
Haig, General Sir Douglas, 122
Hainault, cavalry of, 189, 196 .
S 2
260 England's First Great War Minister
Hall, Edward, his chronicle, 41, !
42, 138 ; his account of Ad- j
miral Howard's attack on the
galleys at Le Conquet, 129,
130 ; admits Henry's passion for
gambling, 157; his panegyric
of Henry VIII, 192 ; describes j
his splendour of dress, 193; i
visits the Emperor Maximilian
at Aire, 194; more about
Henry's gorgeous apparel, 194;
describes Henry VIII leaving
Dover, 199 ; describes his
arrival at Calais, 202 ; tells of
Wolsey at Tournay, 220
Hallam, 42
Hammes, Castle of, 78
Hampton, see Southampton
Hampton Court, Henry VIII's
pictures at, 85, 200; money
for building, 223
Harcourt, 108
Harleian manuscripts, 42
Harrison's " Description of Eng-
land," 40, 6 1
Hastings, Lord, King's summons
to, 172
Haute Deule, Canal de la Haute,
217
Hawke, Admiral, at Quiberon, 125
Hawkins, 122
Henry V, 144
Henry VII, his old foozling
councillors, vii, 20 ; his hoard-
ings, 33
Henry VIII, King of England,
mentioned, i, 3, 5, 6, 53, 57, 73,
99, J35> *36> 245; personal
motives in joining the Holy
League, 7 ; resents criticisms
of his Army, 13; "explains"
the failure of his Army at Fon-
tarabia, 14; resolved to wipe
out the stain of failure, 15;
the " Boke " of the Army and
Navy of, 17 ; entrusts every-
thing to Wolsey, 20 ; Wolsey
financial minister to, 30, 37 ;
his extravagance, 31; "Boke
of Paymentes," 31 ; his set of
gambling friends, 32; Henry
VIII, a good old sport, 32 ;
his open-handedness, 33; his
sources of income, 33 ; his
reliance on Parliament, 39 ;
going in person to invade
France, 40 ; his financial ad-
visers, 42 ; cleverly saddles
Wolsey with the odium of
taxation, 49 ; his appeal to
Parliament for money, 50 ;
commands the feudal lords to
prepare their tenants for war,
60 ; total of his Army, 62 ;
recognizes the importance of
artillery, 67 ; his great guns?
"the Twelve Apostles," 68;
Henry's ship, the " Great
Harry," 70 ; dresses up as an
admiral, 70 ; his knowledge of
Index
261
seamanship, 7 1 \ his artillery not
reduced, 74 ; cautioned by the
Emperor Maximilian, 81 ; his-
torical pictures painted for, 85 ;
his rich tents and pavilions, 85 ;
good wine for, 88 ; patronizes
doctors, 89 ; fond of dabbling in
medicine, 89 ; observes the
laws of chivalry, 95 ; his
" Kinge's Beastes," 83, 98 ;
his doublet, 99 ; inspects his
fleet, 102-4; captains in his
forces, 107, 1 08; letters from
Admiral Howard, 1 10 ; in want
of food for his fleet, 113; his
attitude on the death of Admiral
Howard, 130; his envoy in
Rome, 136; transportation of
his Army to France, 139; his
chivalrous professions, 143;
his mixed motives, 144; im-
presses Europe, 144; intends
to command in person, 145 ;
promises to advance the Em-
peror Maximilian's subsidy,
149 ; his Army disparaged, 152;
dines with shady foreigners,
156 ; urged by his allies to
employ German mercenaries,
158; the chief mercenary in
his Army, 1 60 ; reluctantly com-
pelled to engage them, 161 ;
expounds his policy to Leo X,
165 ; denounces Leo XII, 166 ;
asks for the Pope's support,
167; his love of ships, 170;
commands the " Middle Ward,"
175; three of his fathers-in-
law in his Army, 178 ; his per-
sonal guard of 600 men, 178;
his own suite in the King's
Ward, 181 ; assumes title of
"King of France," 183; his
New Army praised by foreign-
ers, 185, 186, 187; to be
crowned King of France, 189 ;
described by foreigners, 190;
what his name recalls to us,
190 ; Hall the chronicler's
panegyric of, 193; his great
riches described, 193 ; his New
Army described, 196, 197;
takes leave of Katherine of
Arragon, 199; leaves Dover
for the front, 200; his Grand
Fleet, 200; arrives at Calais,
201 ; lands in a boat, 201 ;
apparelled in " Almayn rivet "
and cloth of gold, 202 ; his
henchmen, 203 ; his progress
through Calais, 205-7 ; his
enthusiastic reception, 206 ;
enters St. Nicholas's Church,
207 ; gives thanks to God, 208 ;
Wolsey ever at his side, 210 ;
his " apostles " begin to preach,
212; his reception and cour-
tesies to the Chevalier Bayard,
213; hands over Therouanne
to the Emperor, 215 ; removes
262 England 's First Great War Minister
his Army to Aire, etc., 217;
at Lille, 217; his triumphal
entry, 218; plays songs and
dances, 219; his apostles talk
to Tournay, 220; enters Tour-
nay in triumph, 222 ; entertains
the Duchess Margaret, 222 ;
his profusion at Tournay, 223 ;
goes home by way of Lille,
Ypres and Bergues, 223 ; leaves
Calais for Dover, 224; abruptly
terminates his campaign, 225;
his complaint to the Pope, 229,
231; his "conscience," 232;
rewards Wolsey with appoint-
ments and honours, 236 ; no
animosity against France, 238
" Henry Grace de Dieu," The ;
see The " Great Harry "
"bHenry Imperial," The, a great
ship, 1 06
Herbert, 108
Herbert, Lord (afterwards Earl
of Shrewsbury), Lord Steward,
commands the " Rear Ward,"
173
Herbert of Cherbury, his his-
tory of Henry VIII, 40, 114;
his account of Henry's taxa-
tion, 140
Hogarth, 204
Holbein, 92
Holland, beasts from, for salting,
28
Holy League, The, 142 ; terms
of, signed, 147 ; stipulations
for employment of German
mercenaries, 158 ; why Henry
VIII joined it, 167; first
occasion when England fought
with allies in Europe, 1 68
" Holy War," Henry VIII's, 208
Home Secretary, 6
Hood, Admiral, 122
Horn Reef, battle off, 126
Horses, 81, 82 ; and see Cavalry
and Draft
House of Commons; see Com-
mons, House of
Howard, 103, 108 ; see also
Surrey, Earl of, and Norfolk,
Duke of
Howard, Admiral Thomas Lord
(afterwards Earl of Surrey and
3rd Duke of Norfolk), 117, 118
Howard, Sir Edward, Lord Ad-
miral, vii, 19, 103; the fleet
under his command, 103 ; its full
fighting force, 104 ; his interest-
ing letters when at sea, 105;
his anxiety about victuals, 109 ;
writes to Henry VIII, no;
and to Wolsey, no, 115; his
last letter to Wolsey, 1 1 6, 117;
again writes to Henry VIII,
1 1 8 ; boards the French Ad-
miral's galley, 121; how he
died, 122-4 ; his bravery, 125 ;
his tactics, 125 ; his loss
deeply mourned, 126 ; its
Index
263
effect on the Fleet and abroad,
127 ; his tactics criticized, 131 ;
momentous consequences of
his death, 132, 136 ; his body
recovered, 133 ; his heart re-
tained, 134; his whistle and
chain of command, 134
Howard, Thomas, Earl of Surrey,
and afterwards 2nd Duke of
Norfolk, 184; commands the
"Northern Army," 184; his
victory of Flodden, 219
Hughes, of the Australian Com-
monwealth, 56
Hulluch, ix, 217
Hume's history, 42
Hussey, 108
IRELAND, 61
Irish, The, 98
Italy, 66, 71, 187, 227, 228
JAMES IV of Scotland annoyed,
41 • chuckles over the death
of Admiral Howard, 137 ;
killed at Flodden, 184, 219
Jerningham, 108
Jersey, 61, 180
Jovius, Paulus, 133
Julius II, Pope, 165
KATHERINE of Arragon at Dover
Castle, 199, 210; sends news
to Henry VIII of the Battle
of Flodden, 219
Kempe's "Loseley Manuscripts,"
96
Kent, county of, 58, 204
Kent, Earl of, 123
" King Henry VIII," Play of, vii
" King's Almoner," see Wolsey
" Kinge's Beastes," 83, 99
King's Chapel, 181
King's Council, The, see Council
King's Household, 178, 180
" King's Tents, Toils and Pavil-
lions," see Tents
" King's Ward" or Middle Ward,
The, commanded by Henry
VIII, 125 ; number of men in,
1 86; joins the Vanguard and
Rear Ward, 2, 12
Kitchener, Lord, x, 8; men of
his Army, 187
Knight, Dr., Henry VIII's Am-
bassador in Spain, 1 2 ; his letter
to Wolsey, 1 2 ; tells the King
of Spain of Howard's fight off
Brest, 137
LA BASSEE, ix, 96
Landsknechs, 174; and see Al-
mayns and German Mercen-
aries
264 England's First Great War Minister
" Lantern Gate " of Calais, 203,
204
Laon, 234
Larder, Serjeant of the, 79
Laughton, Sir John, 133
Le Conquet, near Brest, 120, 134
Leo X succeeds to the Pope-
dom, 165 ; desires a general
peace, 231 ; impressed by Eng-
lish victories, 228 ; Henry
VIII's letters to, 229
" Lesser Bark," The, 240
Lille, ix; suburbs of, 217 ; Henry
VIII enters as a guest, 217;
triumphal reception of the
King at, 218-19, 222 ) Henry
passes through, 223
Lillers, 96, 217
Lincolnshire, beasts for salting
from, 28
Lingard, 43
Lizerne, 224
Lombards gamble with Henry
VIII, 157
London, 24, 36 ; Tower of, 66 ;
Venetians in, 69; victualling
stores in, 78 ; Port .of, 104,
179; Venetian merchants
settled in, 188; gossip in the
taverns of, 189 ; news of Henry
VIII's victories in, 226
Longueville, Due de, a cousin of
King Louis XII, taken prisoner
at the battle of Spurs, 212
Lord Lieutenants, 59
Lords, House of, 179
Loseley, in Surrey, literary trea-
sures at, 95, 97
Louis XII of France, 73, 183 ;
claims the engagement at Brest
as a victory, 135; his wrath
against Margaret of Savoy,
156 ; denounced by Henry
VIII, 1 66; his widow, Mary
Tudor, marries the Duke of
Suffolk, 177 ; called "King of
the French" by Henry VIII,
183; Henry VIII's indignation
with, 207 • Due de Longue-
ville, a cousin of, taken prisoner,
212; takes to his bed, 227;
marries Mary Tudor, 235
Lovell, 1 08
Lovell, Sir Thomas, 30
Lucy, Sir Thomas, 178
Lys, The river, 96, 194, 216
Lyttleton, 108
MADRID, 136
Main waring, 108
Malines, 66, 156
Margaret, Duchess of Savoy, Arch-
duchess of Austria, daughter of
the Emperor Maximilian and
Governess of the Netherlands,
1 3 ; her taunts against the
English Army, 13 ; Henry
VIII's letters to, 145 ; ne-
gotiates for her father with
Index
Henry VIII, 147-8 ; her good-
will to England, 155; " safe
under English arrows," 156;
warns Henry VIII against
foreign spies, 157 ; a military
attache of hers, 210; receives
Henry VIII as her guest at
Lille, 217-8 ; received by
Henry with great cheer at
Tournay, 222
''Mariner's Mirror," The, 133
Marne, The river, 234
"Mary Rose," The, Admiral
Howard's flagship, 106, 130,
169
Maximilian, the Emperor, men-
tioned, 3 ; his daughter, see
Margaret, Duchess of Savoy ;
cautions Henry VIII about vic-
tualling his Army, 81 ; his diplo-
matic manoeuvres and tricks,
134, 141-2; Henry VIIFs
letters to, 145 ; signs the
"Holy League" Treaty, 147;
negotiates through his daugh-
ter Margaret, 147 ; wanting
his subsidy to be paid in ad-
vance, 149 ; urges Henry
VIII to engage German mer-
cenaries, 158; draws his daily
wages from Henry VIII, 159 ;
parades a pretended subser-
vience, 159; his ridiculous
poses, 1 60 ; at Lille, with his
daughter, receives Henry VIII,
218; despatches to his agents
announce the news of the
fall of Tournay, 227; his re-
joicings, 230 ; swaggers and
humbugs, 230; urges King
Henry to march on Paris,
231 ; plots with King Ferdi-
nand against Henry, 232 ;
given a tip of 2000 crowns by
Henry, 235
Meat doubles in price, 79
Mesopotamia, Fiasco of, x
"Middle" or "King's Ward," 170;
commanded by Henry VIII,
175 ; its composition, 176, 180,
182-3; mustered at Dover,
199 ; joins the Vanguard and
Rear Ward, 212
Milan, Sforza archives at, 222;
bonfires lit at, for English vic-
tories, 228
Military Supply Service, waste
in, 31
Moore, Sir William, builder of
Loseley, 97
Munitions, Wolsey as Minister
of, 65, et seq.
NAPOLEON, 161
National Gallery, Hogarth's
picture of Calais, 204
National Policy, Wolsey's, 242-
245
National Portrait Gallery, 250
266 England's First Great War Minister
Naval preparations, 17, 18; and
see Record Office, documents in
Naval Supply Service, waste in,
3i
Navarre, kingdom of, 8
Navy, The, 19; bases of the, 78
" Navy Lists " of 1513, 103, 107 ;
the King's "New," of 1513,
242, 244-5. See Howard, Sir
Edward, and Wolsey
Navy, The King's, formerly un-
severed from the Army, 77
Nelson, 122
Netherlands, The, 13, 136, 155,
217
Neville, 108
Norfolk, 2nd Duke of, see Surrey,
Earl of
Norfolk, 3rd Duke of, see Howard,
Thomas Lord
Normandy, 60, 102, 105, 143,
1 68
"Northern Horsemen," 81-2
" Northern" soldiers, 98
PAGE, Richard, Wolsey's agent
in Rome, 80
Pall Mall, 51, 1 80
Paris, Henry VIII said to be
going to, 1 89 ; advance barred
to, 212, 219; the Emperor
urges Henry to march on, 231,
234
Parliament, Henry VIII applies
to, for money for the war, 39 ;
its enthusiastic response, 39,
50 ; generous provision made,
40, 41 ; votes ample taxes,
41, 54 ; speech in, 42 ; rolls of,
42, 43 ; act of, relieving army
surgeons from service, 93 ; dis-
cusses Henry's going in person
to France, 145; Henry's pride
in his, 146
Parr, Sir Thomas, 178
Pasqualigo, Lorenzo, Venetian
merchant settled in London,
187 ; his intimate knowledge
of English things, 188 ; has a
friend at Court, 188 ; his ad-
miration for Henry VIII, 189 ;
his brother shares his enthu-
siasm, 190 ; writes enthusias-
tically of King Henry, 196 ; de-
light at the King's victories, 227
Paulet, 108
Pavilions for the King, 83-5
" Periscopes " before Therouanne,
86
Pe'ronne, important strategic
position of, 233
Pery-John, JwPregent de Bidoux
and " Prior John "
Phelips, 1 08
Physicians, The King's, 90
Picards, 182, 186
Picardy, i, 15, 80, 92. 102, 149,
157, 1 68, 20 1 ; French Army,
82, 233
Index
Pisari, The merchants of Venice,
186
Plymouth, 78, in, 113, 118
Plymouth Road, no
Plymouth Sound, 118
Ponsonby-Fane, Mr. John, 248
Poictiers, 3
Pole, 1 08
Pollard, Professor A. F., 6, 243
Pont-a-Vendin, 217
Pont-Re'my, M. de, Defender of
Therouanne, 214
Ponynges, Sir Edward, Comp-
troller of Henry VIII's House-
hold, and Lord Warden of the
Cinque Ports, 277
Pope, The, 145 ; and the Holy
League, 147 ; and see Julius II
and Leo X
Portinari, Guydo, 66
Portsmouth, 113
Pre'gent de Bidoux, French High
Admiral, 120, 121, 133, 134,
J35) J36; #«^ see "Prior
John"
" Prester John," see above
" Prior John," 120-2, 125, 133-6 ;
and see Pregent de Bidoux
Privy Chamber, The King's
Grooms and Pages of, 180
Privy Council, Wolsey sworn a
member of, 20; accepts Wol-
sey's advice, 23
Privy purse expenses of Henry
VIII, 33
Prussians, The, 161
Pursers, delinquencies of, 18, 19
Purveyors, grasping, 18, 19
Pynson, Richard, King's printer,
price to the " Statutes of War,"
95
QUIBERON, Admiral Hawke's
fight at, 126
RADCLIFFE, 108
Raleigh, 56
"Rear Ward," The, 170; com-
manded by Lord Herbert, Lord
Chamberlain, 173; numbers
14,000 to 15,000 men, 186
Record Office, documents in,
17, 30, 42, 171, 174
Registration, National, 6r
"Responsible" Ministers, 75-6
" Revels," Master of the, 96
Rheims, Henry VIII to be
crowned at, 228, 234
Rhenish wine, 112
Rhodes, Cecil, 56
Richelieu, Cardinal, 204, 207
Richmond, Henry Duke of,
Henry VIII's bastard son, 32
Rome, 80, 136, 165 ; bonfires
lit at, for English victories, 228
Ruhleben, cruelties and horrors
of, 163
Russell, 1 08
268 England's First Great War Minister
Ruthal, Bishop of Durham,
works under Wolsey, 2 1 ;
Secretary of State, 178
Rycroft, John, Serjeant of the
Larder, 79
SABYN, Captain William, naval
expert, 131, 138
St. Asaph, Bishop, 220
St. George, cross of, 97, 159
St. Leger, 108
St. Mark's Day, 120
St. Matheu, or St. Matthews,
Point de, 118
St. Nicholas's Church in Calais,
203, 206, 207, 208
St. Omer, mentioned, ix, i, ico
St. Quentin, 234
St. Sebastian, Bay of, 8, 12; the
expedition to, 83
Sandwich, 171, 173
Sandys, 108
Sandys, Sir William, 103
Sanitation in Henry VII I's Army,
Savoy, see Margaret Duchess of
Scotch affairs and bishoprics, 229
Scotland, 43 ; borders of, 82
Scots, The, 167 ; " malice of the
deceitful/' 184
Seclin, ix, 96, 217
Seymour, 108
Seymour, Sir John, 178
Sforza Archives at Milan, 222 ;
Duke Maximilian lights bon-
fires for English victories, 228
Shakespeare, vii, 49, 56, 178
Shelley, 108
Sherborne, Sir Henry, 123, 130
Shrewsbury, Earl of, Lord
Steward, commands the Van-
guard or Fore Ward, 171, 172
Sidney, 108
Sidney, Sir William, 123, 130
Skelton, his satire on Wolsey,
22, 23, 248
Soldiers, their pay, 182
Solent, The, 105
Somme, French fortify the line
of the river, 233-4
South African, or Boer, War, 2
Southall, 1 08 (? Barthwall)
Southampton, 36, 104, 107, 113,
139, 140, 170
South Water, 102
"Sovereign, The," 106, 169;
and see " Trinity Sovereign "
Spain, coast of, 8 ; English ex-
pedition to, 10, n, 20, 35 ;
withdrawn from, 14, 67 ; tran-
sports bought in, 71; soldiers
of, 94; mentioned, 151
Spanish, 161
Spanish Armada, 241
Spanish Memoir, 163
Spinelly, Henry VIII's Ambas-
sador at Brussels, 105
Spurs, Battle of, 212
Index
269
Spurs, picture of the battle of, 85
" Spying Trestle," a sort of peri-
scope called, 86
Stanley, 108
« Staple Hall," 206
"Staple," The merchants of the,
at Calais, 158, 205, 206
State Papers, v ; and see Record
Office, British Museum, Milan,
Tower of London
Stourton, 108
Stourton, Lord, 106
Stow, his chronicle, 41
Strand, The, 5 1
Strangways, 108
Stubbs, his " Constitutional His-
tory," 42
Suffolk, Duke of, 135 ; and see
Brandon, Sir Charles
Surgeons in Henry VIH's Army,
90, et seq. ; their wages, 109 ;
and see Barber-Surgeons
Surrey, Earl of; see Howard,
Thomas, 2nd and 3rd Dukes of
Norfolk
Switzers, 150, 186
Sympson, Robert, Surgeon to
Henry VIII, 90
TALBOT, Sir Gilbert, Governor
of Calais, 99, 100, 202
Talboys, Lady, Henry VIH's
mistress, 32 ; and see Blount,
Elizabeth
Taxes imposed by Wolsey's
budget, 40 ; voted by Parlia-
ment, 41-3
Taylor, John, Clerk of the Parlia-
ment, three times condemns
German barbarities, 162 ; his
valuable diary of the war,
201, 211, 215, 216; ex-
amines the trenches at Therou-
anne, 215; witnesses Henry
VIIl's entry in Lille, 216
Tempest, 108
Tents for the Army, 81, 83 ;
Keeper of the, 96
Thames, The River, 24
Therouanne, mentioned, i, 2, 195,
210, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216,
230; walls of, battered, 61 ;
tents before, 84, 85, 159 ;
Henry VIII removes from
before, 230
"The Trade," 118
Thomas, Rhys ap, 82, 171
Throgmorton, 108
Toils, see Tents
Toulon, 136
Touraine, 60, 143
" Tour du Guet," at Calais, 206
Tournay, mentioned, ix, i, 222,
225, 230; ample victualling of
the army around, 8 ; tents be-
fore, 84 ; army before the walls
of, 96, 1 59; Henry VIIl's march
to, 219; Mass under the walls
of, in thanksgiving for the
270 England's First Great War Minister
Battle of Flodden, 220; huts
for the army besieging, 221;
bishopric of, 223; surrender
of, 223-4; English soldiers
squander money at, 223 ; "Sir
Edward Grey" at, 224; Brian
Tuke at, 226; Henry VIII's
camp before, 227, 228
Tower of London, records moul-
dering in the, 1 7
Trevenyan, Sir William, 106
Trinity College, Oxford, portrait
of Wolsey at, 249, 250
" Trinity," or " Trinity Sovereign,
The," Henry VIII's great ship,
106, 109, 200, 214
Tudor Militia, 63
Tuke, Brian, Clerk of the Signet,
and Secretary to Henry VIII,
80 ; reports no epidemic, 93 ;
reports solid huts made for the
English Army, 221
Turks, The, 123
Tyrwitt, 108
USHANT, 120
VALLADOLID, 145, 229
Van Eyck, 248
Vanguard of Henry VIII's Army,
96, 170, 186, 212; and see
Fore Ward
Vaux, 1 08
Vendin-le-Vieux, 217
Venetian Ambassadors, 6, 40,
S°» 7i, 191
Venetian archives, 79
Venetian merchants in London,
69, 104, 185, 186, 190, 227,
228, 238; and see Bavarin,
Pasqualigo
Venice, 7, 51, 136, 228; Doge
and Signory of, 53
Victualling, urgency of, 77
Vienna, 145, 235
WAGGONS for the Army, 81
" Wait and See," 12,36
Wales, 4
Wallop, 1 08
" War Committee," Henry VIII's,
16
War, Ministers of, Wolsey one
of the greatest of England's,
7 ; one of his duties as, 55
" War Office," Wolsey takes con-
trol of the, 6 • muddling and
incompetence at the, 1 2 ; docu-
ments of, in the national ar-
chives, 177
Warham, Archbishop, 20
Weale, Mr. W. H. James, 247
Wellington, Duke of, 140
Welsh, 214
Westail, John, Physician to Henry
VIII, 90
Index
271
Westminster, 218
Westminster, King's Palace and
Court at, 1 6, 51, 185
Whitehall, 76, 180, 223
Whitsand, see Wissant
Wight, Isle of, 6 1
"William," Henry VIII's valet,
138
Willoughby, 108
Willoughby, Lord, 178
Wiltshire, Commissions of Array
in, 59
Wiltshire, Sir John, Comptroller
of Calais, 176
Winchester, see Fox, Bishop
Wingfield, 108
Wissant, 128, 201
Wittenberg, cruelties and horrors
of, 163
Wolseley, Lord, 140
Wolsey, Thomas, "King's Al-
moner" to Henry, Dean of Lin-
coln, afterwards Archbishop
of York, Lord Chancellor and
Cardinal and Legate, vii ; por-
traits of, viii; and see p. 246
et seq. \ England's greatest War
Minister, 4 ; his achievements,
5 ; the distorted traditional Wol-
sey, of history, 6-7 ; his firm
hand felt, 10; prepares for a
three years' war, 14 ; entrusted
with the preparations, 15 ;
bends all his energies on the
war, 16; takes control of the
" War Office," 16; and of the
Navy, 1 6 ; corrects the " Bokes
of the King's Army and Navy,"
1 7 ; encounters apathy and
denseness, 18 ; worried by the
waste everywhere, 19; wields
all the prerogatives of the
Crown, 20; hates talk, ai;
his accessibility, 22 ; his devo-
tion to the " King's business,"
23 ; his ceaseless labours, 24 ;
his health injured by excessive
work, 25 ; his stupendous
achievements, 25 ; won't dele-
gate to younger men, 26; his
hand traced in all directions, 27 ;
his economies, 28; insists on
fair prices for the Crown, 28 ;
scrutinizes all documents, 28 ;
insists on good food for the
troops, 29; bargains in the
interests of the State, 30 ; re-
organizes the finances of the
kingdom, 31 ; regulates the
King's expenses, 33-4; his
curious War Memorandum for
the King, 35 ; his estimate of
the cost of the war, 36-7 ;
his war budget of 1513, 45-
6 ; taxes the clergy, 47 ; his
financial audacity, 47 ; his
principles of taxation, 48 ; how
he got the men, 55 ; is a hustler,
5 6 ; worried by dawdlers, 57;
is the unifying head of the
272 England's First Great War Minister
King's military forces, 64 ; as
Minister of Munitions, 65 ; his
driving force, 68 ; no delusions
about the greatness of the
struggle, 72 ; his loyalty to his
King and country, 73 ; never
reduced the King's artillery,
74 ; was a " responsible "
Minister, 75 ; arranges for the
victualling of Fleet and Army,
77 ; his punctuality in pro-
visioning, 80 ; and in paying
officers and men their wages,
8 1 ; provides tents for the Army,
83 ; his interest in sanitation,
87 ; his precautions against
infection, 88 ; gets good wine
for the King, 88 ; his interest
in the medical art, 89 ; provides
printed copies of the " Statutes
of War" for the Army, 95;
foresees every contingency, 99 ;
buys the correct stuff for his
cassocks, 100 ; prepares the
Fleet for sea, 101 ; writes to
Sir Edward Howard, no;
devotes special attention to
the victualling of the Fleet,
113; the Admiral writes to
him, 1 1 5 ; his pleasant relations
with Naval officers, 116 ; Lord
Howard writes to him vindi-
cating his brother, 128; does
not interfere with those in com-
mand, 129 ; letter from Captain
Sabyn to him about Howard's
action, 138 ; marshals the
Army ready for transportation
to France, 139; his "New
Army," 140 ; supports Henry
VIII's going to France in per-
son, 146 ; his plain dealing,
147 ; frustrates King Ferdin-
and's schemes, 153; conceives
the importance for England of
a strong Navy, 169 ; begins
transporting his " New Army"
to France, 170; concentrates
the " Middle Ward " at Dover,
175; his revision of "War
Office" documents, 177 ; com-
mands 200 fighting men, 178;
his organizing ability taxed, 1 84 ;
his real political aims, 197 ;
the first to apprehend the need
for a balance of power, 198 ;
rides on his mule by Henry's
side through Calais, 203 ; kneels
by the King's side in prayer
in St. Nicholas's Church, 208 ;
his functions during the War,
209 ; goes to the front with
the King, 210; by the King's
side during the mutiny of
German mercenaries, 211 ;
witnesses the Battle of the
Spurs, 212 ; passes through
Aire, Bethune, Cambrin to
Lille, 217; takes the oath of
allegiance of the inhabitants of
Index
273
Tournay, 220; provides huts
for the Army, 221 ; made
Bishop of Tournay, 223 ; sees
the danger of an advance
against the line of the Somme,
233-4; detects King Ferdin-
and's treachery, 235 ; made
Bishop of Durham, Archbishop
of York, Lord Chancellor and
a Cardinal, 236 ; his wonderful
diplomacy, 237 ; his policy for
England, 238 ; and for Europe,
239 ; deviation from the princi-
ples of his policy always dis-
astrous, 240 ; the " Wolsey
Policy " inspires England's ex-
pansion, 241 ; his " New Navy '»
the decisive factor, 242 ; his
" National Policy " as distin-
guished from the " Foreign
Policy " of theorizers and official
hacks, 242 ; his supremacy as
a diplomatist, 243 ; his work
for England, 243 ; his noblest
most enduring work, 244 ; his
first steps in a mighty sequence
of events, 245 ; the " Wolsey
Spirit," how it encompasses
all, 246
Wombwell, 108
Wortley, 108
Wyatt, 1 08
Wyatt, Sir Henry, 178
Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 178
Wyndham, 108
YORK, Wolsey made Archbishop
of, 6, 236
Ypres, ix, 97 ; Henry VIII stays
at, 206; Cloth Hall of, 223
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(22f in. by I5| in.) Price to Subscribers, £16
2. An Edition-de- Luxe, on Dutch Hand-made Paper throughout. Limited to
Two Hundred and Fifty Copies. Folio (19-} in. by 15 in.).
Price to Subscribers, £8
(All the above sold. Only second- hand copies procurable.)
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
The Times. — " Mr. Law's descriptions commonly extend to three or four
folio pages, and sometimes to much more. We have nothing but praise for
the thoroughness with which he has studied his material."
The Morning Post. — "A work of extraordinary interest. The thorough-
ness of his methods may be relied on to evoke the satisfaction of such readers
as appreciate discriminating criticism and research."
The Daily News. — "This sumptuous volume should bean indispensable
addendum to every public and private library."
The Daily Mail. — "The volume before us is one of the most valuable
additions to art literature that has ever been published. Mr. Law's historical
and critical notes which accompany each picture almost attain the dignity of
an essay."
St. James's Gazette. — "In pursuance of his task Mr. Law seems to have
left no authority untried, no method of minute examination unattempted, and
that the result is at once so solid and so attractive says a great deal for the
author of the first critical description published of what is, after all, one of the
finest art collections in the world."
Westminster Gazette. — " A work of immense value and interest. Historical
knowledge, careful research and scholarly style are admirable qualifications for
the task."
Spectator. — "An excellent piece of work. Letterpress, pictures and
printing are all of high merit."
7"he World. — " Seldom, if ever, has there been a more beautiful production
set before the public. The letterpress is as delightful to read as the photo-
gravures are to look at. It is a magnificent work."
The Scotsman. — "Mr. Law's description of the portraits and sketches of
the people represented are picturesque and highly interesting, and as a critic
he is well-informed and discriminating."
Glasgow Herald. — " A magnificent record of the achievements of the great
Flemish painter, such a record as would have won the approval of the artist
himself, who loved all things done in a princely fashion."
Graphic. — " Without exaggeration no more valuable work upon Vandyck
has ever been issued. It is a result of a closeness of examination which prac-
tically marks a new era in the science of criticism. A charming and elegant
writer, Mr. Law does not allow his scholarship to appear in other than the
brightest light ; he is entertaining, amusing, even anecdotic in his description
of sitters, and accurate and informative in his record of each picture's history.
It would be almost impossible to find a more entertaining essay upon the
period with which he deals than this wonderfully accurate and scholarly
monograph."
Standard. — "Mr. Law possesses great aptitude for historical research ;
artistic feeling as well as great tact in dealing with his material. In the plain
way that he affects he is a very pleasant writer."
THE ROYAL GALLERY
OF
HAMPTON COURT
ILLUSTRATED :
Being an Historical Catalogue of the Pictures in the King's Collection
at that Palace, with Descriptive, Biographical
and Critical Notes.
ILLUSTRATED WITH A HUNDRED PLATES.
Priffy bound in white buckram and gold. One Guinea.
(A New Edition in Preparation.)
The Times. — "Almost every portrait now, owing to Mr. Law's exertions,
has a name, and few pictures are without some indication of the vicissitudes
which befell them during the interregnum. The volume abounds in new
readings as to the names of artists and portraiture."
The Saturday Review. — "An honest attempt to bring order out of con-
fusion, to expose false pretensions and distinguish real merit. It is, moreover,
unlike many such books, extremely pleasant reading, being full of historical
anecdotes. The book is full of curious and interesting notes."
The World. — " An inventory of works of art, which is itself a work of art
of the most elaborate and sumptuous kind. This beautiful and instructive
volume is the product of labour as indefatigable as it is varied."
Magazine of Art. — " This elaborate Catalogue Raissone of the pictures in
the Gallery is accompanied by notes — historical, biographical and critical — so
complete in their way, and at the same time so catholic, as might be expected
from so dispassionate a writer, that the book is one that appeals alike to the
student of history and of art. Mr. Law is open-minded ; he aims at giving
the most recent discoveries, the results of the most recent investigations of
scientific criticism. We quit the volume with a feeling of gratitude to
Mr. Law for the service he has rendered to art lovers and inquirers alike."
GEORGE BELL & SONS, Ltd., LONDON.
1OVE
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